Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore on CBS on Sunday blamed “flawed immigration policy” for the death of his mother, who was allegedly murdered by an illegal Salvadoran immigrant, and said President Joe Biden’s recent executive orders on immigration “don’t go far enough.”
Governor Moore appeared on “Face the Nation” to discuss the recent arrest of Salvadoran immigrant Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, 23, for the rape and murder of Rachel Morin, 37. CBS host Margaret Brennan questioned the Democratic governor about the incident while playing footage of Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler blaming the Biden administration and Congress. (Related article: Illegal immigrant arrested for raping and murdering mother of five)
“My heart breaks for the Morin family, as it does for the entire state. She should still be here and the sheriff is absolutely right, our immigration policies were addressed as they should have been and they weren’t. The consequences will fall on us as the state’s chief executive. The consequences will fall on us as the leaders of our states. We know we have to fix our broken immigration policies and we know Congress needs to address this,” Moore said.
“That’s why it’s so incredibly frustrating. A bipartisan coalition of Democrats and Republicans was literally negotiating right up to the last minute to get a deal done, and then it was torn up because President Trump said this is politically disadvantageous. It’s so incredibly frustrating, and this is why people hate politics. We need to get this deal done, and we need Congress to act.”
Brennan continued questioning Moore about the ongoing border crisis, asking whether he agreed with Biden’s recent immigration executive order to suspend new asylum claims if the daily average number of migrants at the southern border rises above 25,000 on a weekly basis, and then resume them if the daily average returns to 1,500.
“I support the executive order, but I know it’s not enough. This is not politics. Politics should not get in the way of public safety. And all of us who have to deal with the downstream effects of broken policy know that Congress needs to address this,” Moore replied.
Morin was found dead by authorities in August 2023 along a popular hiking trail in Harford County, Maryland, leaving behind five children. according to Authorities arrested Martinez-Hernandez on Saturday and charged him with first-degree murder and first-degree rape, according to CBS News. Martinez-Hernandez is believed to have hid in a drainage ditch before pulling Molnin away from the suspect, the outlet reported.
Following his arrest, authorities revealed that Martinez-Hernandez had illegally entered the United States in February 2023 after killing another woman in El Salvador in January 2023. An arrest warrant was issued for him by international law enforcement agency Interpol on murder charges, but Martinez-Hernandez is also accused of later assaulting a 9-year-old girl and her mother in Los Angeles in March 2023, CBS News reported.
