Tammy Noble expressed that she did not want to fall into a “trap” set by a Democrat during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, where immigration became a contentious topic.
California Senator Alex Padilla was questioning a panel that included speakers on illegal immigration, notably a figure named Angel Mama Marie Vega, asking if they considered “all immigrants are criminals.”
Noble, who lost her 20-year-old daughter Kayla Hamilton to an illegal immigrant and MS-13 gang member in July 2022, reflected on her discomfort with the shifting focus and the intense questioning.
Crockett, another witness, shared that she was so struck by Padilla’s approach that she broke down in tears.
Later, Noble stated on “Fox & Friends First” that it seemed as if Vega was being cornered by the questioning regarding her own son, who was murdered by illegal immigrants in 2014.
“I think he was trying to trap her,” Noble suggested. “I jumped in and asked, ‘What do you mean? Are you implying that illegal immigration is the actual issue?’”
She continued to challenge the notion that all immigrants should be generalized into one negative category.
Throughout the session, Padilla criticized rhetoric from the Trump administration about targeting the “worst of the worst” criminals, arguing that this narrative only made things worse under the Biden administration.
Democratic senators had earlier been removed from a press conference when they interrupted discussions involving the Secretary of Homeland Security.
During the hearing, a Department of Homeland Security agent noted that the way certain things are framed implies that Democrats never prioritized addressing crime related to immigration. “That’s simply not true,” he insisted, pointing out that many immigrant enforcement officials supported this view.
Noble called for Congress to consider the Kera Hamilton Act, aimed at addressing loopholes regarding the handling of unaccompanied minors by the federal government.
Also speaking was Alejandro Barranco, a US Marine veteran, who shared his own family’s struggles with immigration officials. He claimed his father, an undocumented immigrant, was unfairly targeted while working in California.
“There was no reason for them to harass him,” he lamented, voicing concerns about racial profiling and emphasizing that many undocumented immigrants contribute significantly to society.
