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(NewsNation) — The mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray is calling for legislative change following her daughter’s death in June.
“I really wish and I really hope that everyone hears my plead and hears my sorrows and resonates with it. Because we have to stop this. This has to be a start to something different,” Alexis Nungaray said on “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”
According to court documents, two men lured the Texas girl under a bridge on June 16 — after she snuck out, officials believe — and kept her there for two hours. Officials say she was tied up, strangled and the marks on her neck were consistent with being dragged.
“We don’t need to be burying our kids. It’s not fair,” Alexis Nungaray said. “They need to be burying us. So, it’s very hard.”
In June, police arrested Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, and Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 21, in connection to her death.
“There’s a right way to come here, and there’s a wrong way to come here,” Alexis Nungaray said. “And these gentlemen — these men, I don’t even want to call them gentlemen — these monsters, came here illegally and continued to do what they needed to do.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not yet confirmed how the pair, originally from Venezuela, entered the country.
Both alleged killers face capital murder charges and $10 million bonds.
‘Justice for Jocelyn Act’
Jocelyn Nungaray’s family, Houston prosecutors and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, are joining forces to reform immigration procedures through the “Justice for Jocelyn Act.”
The act would detain migrants who entered the U.S. illegally as their cases are processed and bar law enforcement from engaging in “catch and release” practices, where agents allow migrants into the country despite pending cases.
“Please don’t just release anybody. You don’t know who’s coming in here. You don’t know who we’re allowing to have access to our children,” Alexis Nungaray said. “It’s just not okay.”
The act would also enforce a curfew for migrants who entered illegally and are wearing an ankle bracelet monitor, something Nungaray believes will “ensure that we lessen the dangers on the streets for our children and for these women and for these men who become victims.”
Alexis Nungary hopes the bill will not only protect other families but also help memorialize her daughter.
“A lot of these children get their lives ripped away from them from these illegals being here illegally doing crime like they did in their country … It’s not right,” she said.
NewsNation’s Devan Markham contributed to this story.
