House Judiciary Leaders Demand Documents on Teen Illegal Alien Accused of Murdering Maryland Woman

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) nominates House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for Speaker of the House of the 118th Congress during a speech in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 3, 2023 in Washington. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), chairman of the panel’s Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement are demanding multiple documents from executive branch officials regarding an unnamed 17-year-old illegal alien who is accused of murdering a 20-year-old Maryland woman in an unprovoked attack.

The documents being demanded are required in order for House investigators to piece together why the illegal alien, who is also suspected of being an MS-13 gang member, was able to roam freely in the United States and what steps, if any, federal officials took to investigate his background and monitor his whereabouts in this country after being released by immigration authorities.

“On January 15, 2023, the police department in Aberdeen, Maryland, arrested [redacted], a 17-year-old illegal alien and known MS-13 gang member from El Salvador for the violent assault and murder of 20-year-old Maryland resident, Kayla Hamilton. Press reports indicate that [redacted] entered the United States in March 2022 in Rio Grande City, Texas, and ‘identified as an unaccompanied minor,’” Jordan and McClintock told Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in a Feb. 27 letter.

“Criminal aliens and gang members exploit the U.S. immigration system to harm Americans. The Biden Administration’s border and immigration policies only increase the likelihood that those criminal aliens will successfully enter and remain in the U.S.,” Jordan and McClintock told Mayorkas.

Hamilton, who was autistic, had recently moved to Aberdeen to be with her 22-year-old boyfriend, according to her family. The illegal alien is accused of strangling her and he also faces additional charges of rape and robbery.

Maryland law enforcement officials told a Baltimore TV station after the illegal alien’s arrest that Hamilton’s case has had a tremendous impact on investigators.

“Lt. C. William Reiber said Hamilton’s death impacted investigators, working around the clock to help bring the family closure,” according to CBS News Baltimore. “This was about making that arrest for Kayla, and so she just wasn’t a number. That this meant something. It meant something to be a part of it, I can tell you it meant a lot to me and our team here in Aberdeen.”

The documents sought by the House panel chairmen include “case history information, including, but not limited to, the alien’s immigration history, immigration benefits applications, the alien file (A-file) or consular file (including all consular notes), and immigration detention status and history.”

Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services speaks during a press conference at the HHS headquarter in Washington, on June 28, 2022. Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

In addition, the chairmen are seeking all available information about the illegal alien’s crossing into the United States from Mexico, as well as “information regarding the alien’s processing by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials, including whether CBP officials were alerted to derogatory information about the alien and what questions were asked of the alien during the screening process. ”

Jordan and McClintock also demanded in a Feb. 27 letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra related documents held by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). That office is responsible for the care and placement of unaccompanied alien children referred by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The documents sought from HHS include “all case history information, including but not limited to case file, family reunification packet, as well as any materials provided to HHS ORR by federal agencies such as CBP upon referral and any information provided to HHS ORR pursuant to its request for information from the referring agency.”

The Jordan/McClintock letters to DHS and HHS regarding the Maryland murder case are part of the judiciary panel’s comprehensive investigation of President Joe Biden’s immigration policies that have allowed more than five million illegal immigrants to cross into the United States, mostly from Mexico, but also in boats landing in Florida from Cuba and Haiti, as well as the Canadian border.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton lauded the judiciary investigation in a recent letter to Jordan.

“There are no words that can fully capture the devastating impact that Biden’s border crisis has had on American citizens—and Texans in particular. An increase in violent crime rates, the deterioration of public health systems, all-time high border crossings and drug overdose deaths, and the empowerment of vile Mexican drug cartels and human traffickers are all direct consequences of this Administration’s decision to abandon virtually every form of border security,” Paxton told Jordan.

The Lone Star State has been especially hard-hit by the illegal immigration flood, with 50 counties along the Texas portion of the U.S.-Mexico border being declared disaster areas by state officials.

Spokesmen for DHS and HHS could not be reached for comment.