Mothers Silence Democrat Who Used Victims Hearing to Attack Trump

Clear Facts

• Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) dismissed grieving mothers at an illegal immigration victims hearing, calling their testimony a “Steve Miller approved” stunt designed to stir prejudice against “people of color”
• Johnson pivoted from victims’ stories to demand hearings on Trump tax cuts, Iran policy, and Epstein files instead
• Mothers of victims killed and injured by illegal immigrants delivered powerful rebuttals, refusing to let their tragedies be politicized or minimized

A congressional hearing on the deadly consequences of sanctuary policies descended into chaos Thursday when a Georgia Democrat abandoned decorum to launch partisan attacks — only to face a devastating response from mothers who lost children to illegal immigrant crime.

Rep. Hank Johnson turned what should have been a solemn hearing into a political circus. After offering perfunctory condolences to families whose loved ones were allegedly killed by illegal immigrants, Johnson immediately accused them of participating in a “Steve Miller approved” political stunt meant to “stir up passion and prejudice against immigrants who are people of color.”

Rather than listen to their stories, Johnson spent his time arguing the committee should instead investigate Trump-era tax cuts, foreign policy decisions, and “the cover up of the Epstein files.” He listed violent crimes committed by white men and invoked Renee Good, an immigration activist killed by federal authorities during a protest in January.

“I’m not minimizing the tragedy that is before us today with you three women, but the other tragedies at the hands of non-immigrants are just as important,” Johnson said.

He also accused Republicans of “sandwiching” a Democrat witness between victims’ families for “dramatic effect.”

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) immediately condemned Johnson’s remarks as “one of the most disgusting testimonies I have ever heard.” Gill pointed directly at Democrats’ open border policies under the Biden administration as the root cause of these preventable deaths.

But the most powerful response came from the mothers themselves.

Jen Heiling, whose 18-year-old son Brady was killed alongside his girlfriend Hallie Helgeson when an illegal immigrant from Honduras allegedly drove drunk the wrong way on I-90, delivered a searing rebuke.

“You can put me in whatever order, in whatever seat. My tragedy is never going to be OK,” Heiling told Johnson. “Today’s our day. Hear us. Leave your butts in your seat. I don’t want to hear your butts.”

She described the ongoing nightmare her surviving children face — her 11-year-old and 16-year-old still waiting for their brother to come home. His garage stall sits empty because his car remains impounded as evidence.

“We can’t pick a headstone, because that makes it too real. But you can sit here and tell us about what kind of hearing this should be,” Heiling said. “Renee Good is not the same as angel families. She made a choice. … Brady and Hallie didn’t get a choice … They were living [by] American laws … and they were stolen by somebody who doesn’t care.”

Patricia Fox, mother of Carissa Aspnes — who was seriously injured in a hit-and-run allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant — dismantled Johnson’s attempt to inject race into the discussion.

“I don’t know if anybody has noticed, but I am not White. I wake up Brown every day,” Fox said.

“I’m not sure what race has to do with any of this,” Fox continued. “There’s four kids that we talked about today, and y’all can’t seem to stay on topic for what — an hour of your time. … Today, we’re talking about sanctuary policies and how they have wrecked our families. Y’all come and y’all feed Carissa. You get her up from her bed using a crane, and then you tell me and lecture me what this hearing should be about.”

The exchange exposed the callous priorities of lawmakers more interested in protecting failed policies than acknowledging the American families destroyed by them. These mothers traveled to Washington not for political theater, but to demand accountability for sanctuary policies that shield criminal illegal immigrants from deportation.

Their children followed the law. They did everything right. And they paid with their lives because politicians chose ideology over safety.

The hearing was titled “The Human Toll of Sanctuary Policies” — but some members of Congress apparently came determined to talk about anything else. The mothers refused to let them.

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