Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) stirred significant backlash during a recent House Judiciary Committee meeting when she referred to Kayla Hamilton, a 20-year-old autistic woman who was brutally murdered by an MS-13 gang member, as a “random dead person.” This comment came as lawmakers were discussing the Kayla Hamilton Act, a proposed bill aimed at tightening the vetting process for unaccompanied minors entering the United States.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Russell Fry (R-SC), seeks to require background checks on unaccompanied alien children (UACs) before they are placed in U.S. communities. It is named in honor of Hamilton, who was killed in 2022 by Walter Javier Martinez, a 17-year-old illegal immigrant with known gang affiliations. Martinez had entered the country without proper vetting.
Crockett’s remarks sparked outrage from both sides of the aisle. She accused Republicans of exploiting the tragedy for political gain, saying, “Stop just throwing a random dead person’s name on something for your own political expediency.” She also criticized the GOP for not addressing other victims of violence, such as those connected to Jeffrey Epstein, claiming that Republicans only focus on tragic deaths when it suits their agenda.
Rep. Fry responded sharply to Crockett’s comments, calling them “disgusting rhetoric” and “shameful behavior.” He emphasized that Kayla Hamilton was not just a statistic but a young woman with a family and a future. Fry expressed disappointment that such comments downplay the real tragedies faced by families affected by violence.
Kayla’s mother, Tammy Nobles, supported the proposed legislation, stating that background checks could have prevented her daughter’s murder. She highlighted that if proper vetting had been conducted, authorities would have known about Martinez’s gang connections.
Martinez, who was sentenced to 70 years in prison, had a criminal history in El Salvador, including ties to MS-13. Reports indicate that he confessed to multiple additional crimes after entering the U.S.
The Kayla Hamilton Act aims to address these issues by implementing measures such as background checks for minors aged 12 and older, screening for gang tattoos, housing gang-affiliated minors in secure facilities, banning illegal immigrants from sponsoring UACs, and ensuring full sharing of sponsor background data with the Department of Homeland Security.
The debate surrounding the bill and Crockett’s comments highlights the ongoing tensions in U.S. immigration policy discussions and the emotional weight of individual tragedies within broader political conversations.
