Global Courant 2023-04-21 19:00:00
At a hearing this week, a Texas Republican lawmaker forced DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to stand up and face a grieving family who lost a grandmother and young girl in a fatal car accident involving a smuggler who was on the run from the authorities at the border.
Elisa Tambunga, who lost her seven-year-old daughter, and Gin Jespersen, who lost her mother, joined “Fox & Friends First” on Friday to describe coming face to face with Mayorkas after tragedy struck their family.
Mayorkas stood up and offered his condolences to the family after being asked by Representative August Pfluger, R-Texas.
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“Honestly, it was asked of him. He didn’t do it because he thought it was right. Mr. Pfluger asked him to do that. And at this point, not only Secretary Mayorkas, but no one apologizes. Nothing for me or mean my family without any action behind it,” Tambunga said.
She clarified that she had received a sincere apology from Mayorkas at their private meeting, but she considered the apology disingenuous at the hearing.
Relatives of 71-year-old Maria Tambunga and Emilia Tambunga, who died in a car accident involving a suspected human smuggler, attend a House Homeland Security Committee hearing where Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified, Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (House Homeland Security Committee)
Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas testified before the House Homeland Security Committee when asked to apologize to the family of Maria and Emilia Tambunga, who were killed last month.
“They’re right behind you. They came here today because they want answers. They came here today because of the failure of you and your leadership. They came here because they want closure,” Pfluger said.
Mayorkas stood up and offered his condolences to the Tambunga family present – although he also accused Pfluger of politicizing the tragedy.
Jespersen said her family has been trying to get Mayorkas’ attention for some time.
Emilia Brooke Tambunga, left, and her grandmother, Maria Socorro Alvarez-Tambunga. (Preddy Funeral Home)
“During the private meeting, we asked him to come in and sit with us and get to know us and really acknowledge what we were saying. We were adamant that we needed troops there and the accident, the murder… happened because there is no Texas DPS across Crockett County Interstate in Ozona Texas,” Jespersen said.
The family takes action and urges Mayorkas to make a change.
“We asked him for troops. We asked him to work with the Democrats and the Republicans. We said we’re not about red or blue today. We’re not about who’s right or who’s right. We’re about working together. said, under your leadership it doesn’t work.”
“It’s just all over South Texas, in our hometown. It’s everywhere. And we need his help. We need his leadership. We need him to step up to the plate and assume his role. “
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Tambunga said she shared graphic photos of her daughter and urged Mayorkas to understand the significance of his role.
“I just beg him to please hear us. And that when he’s going to advise President Biden that instead of having the thoughts of the congressman and congressman in the back of his mind, have our faces in the back of his mind because that’s who ultimately he has to protect us.”
“I didn’t have to bury my seven-year-old little girl. I didn’t have to see her covered in blood. I didn’t have to hold her cold body.”
The Texas Department of Public Safety said 22-year-old Rassian Comer of Louisiana ran a red light during a high-speed chase on I-10 in Ozona and crashed into Maria Tambunga’s car.
Two of the 11 illegal migrants smuggled in Comer’s 2021 Dodge pickup were also killed in the crash, Texas DPS said. Both came from Mexico.
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Fox News’ Timothy HJ Nerozzi contributed to this report.
Elizabeth Heckman is a digital production assistant at Fox News.
