'Our people are dying': Rachel Morin's mother sounds alarm on illegal immigration after her daughter's murder

The mother of a woman allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant from El Salvador testified emotionally to lawmakers Wednesday about the moment she learned of her daughter’s death, while also testifying that U.S. borders were “not safe.”

Patty Morin, whose daughter Rachel was killed last year in Maryland, testified at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on the border crisis.

Police found Rachel’s body buried in a culvert and, after a months-long investigation, identified her alleged killer as an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who was also accused of murder in his home country and the rape of a mother and her 9-year-old daughter in Los Angeles.

“It was a real shock for our whole family. It took them 10 months to find this alleged illegal immigrant,” she told lawmakers.

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“There was an illegal immigrant who had escaped from El Salvador waiting for him on the road. I was told they grabbed her, dragged her into the woods, raped her, strangled her, murdered her. We were told her body was covered in bruises. And I can tell you, looking at her when I went to the funeral home, it was probably the most graphic thing I’ve ever seen,” she said.

The audienceIn “A Country Without Borders: How Biden-Harris Open Border Policies Undermined Our Security,” lawmakers traded criticism over who is responsible for the border crisis, which has seen a historic number of migrants arrive at the border and a number of criminals released into the United States as part of the surge.

Ahead of the hearing, Republicans released a report criticizing the Biden administration’s policies and blaming it for the crisis and the aftermath.

“As we continue to see the resistance of Biden and Harris to do anything meaningful in the face of this catastrophe, we must ask ourselves: Why? Why did they let this crisis happen and why did they let it continue,” Chairman Mark Green told the committee.

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While Republicans blame the Biden administration for the crisis, the administration and Democrats say it’s Congress’s fault for failing to pass broader immigration reforms to fix a “broken” system and provide additional funding. They have pointed to a bipartisan Senate bill that would provide more funding and limit the number of asylum seekers. Republicans have refused to support the bill, saying it would codify the high number of asylum seekers at the border.

In response, President Biden signed an executive order in June restricting entry into the United States. According to the administration, this has led to a sharp decline in border encounters since then.

“While you probably won’t hear it from those on the other side, encounters at the border are at their lowest level in years since the President’s proclamation on June 4, and encounters along the border and ports of entry are down 55%, with Border Patrol recording the lowest number of border encounters since September 2020,” said Ranking Member Bennie Thompson.

He also criticized Republicans for not supporting the Senate bill.

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“Under former President Trump, Republicans blocked the bipartisan Senate border deal and refuse to release funds needed for border security. Republicans don’t want solutions for border security. They want a political issue,” he said.

But Morin had a warning for Americans watching the hearing.

“They say the borders are safe. We live 1,800 miles from the southern border. They are not safe. They are not safe. If you have a sanctuary city in your state, you are not safe,” Morin warned.

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Fox News’ Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.