THE CENTER SQUARE—A Texas congresswoman is under fire after saying Angel Moms who testified about how their children were brutally murdered by criminal illegal border crossers released into the U.S. are “being exploited for political purposes.”

Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democrat from El Paso, Texas, made the remarks Tuesday at a House Judiciary Committee hearing after mothers described how their children were murdered because of Biden-Harris administration border policies.

Escobar initially expressed her condolences as a mother of two children.

“I cannot imagine the grief of losing a loved one in such a tragic way,” the Texas Democrat said. “I want you to know how much I respect the courage that it took for you to be here today, to share your grief and your pain.”

Escobar also said she, as a third-generation border resident, is “the only member of this committee who actually lives on the border, raised her kids on the border.” Other committee members are border residents of Arizona, California, and Texas.

Escobar next accused her Republican colleagues of “exploiting people’s pain for political purposes.”

“Unfortunately, that’s what’s happening today,” she said. “The finger-pointing at the administration by members of Congress is frustrating … because we are the ones who write the laws.”

Escobar’s Republican colleagues, and at least half of U.S. attorneys general who’ve sued the administration, argue the border crisis was created by the Biden-Harris administration’s breaking laws established by Congress. If existing federal laws were followed, they say, millions of illegal border crossers wouldn’t have been released into the U.S. but would have been deported.

April Aguirre, a victim’s advocate in Houston and an Air Force veteran, lashed out, pointing to Escobar and saying: “It’s insulting that you would say that to these families, that you would make an assumption that they’re being used or exploited anyway.”

“I’d like a phone call from you to see what you can do to help these families because every single week I get bombarded with calls from victims all over the United States,” Aguirre said.

While she was helping victims’ families “navigate the criminal justice system,” she said, “not one Democrat called me to offer their assistance. It was only Republicans.”

She is an independent and votes “both ways,” Aguirre said. “So, it’s insulting,” she continued but got cut off by Escobar, who interrupted.

“Please don’t speak over me. I’m still talking. I have the floor,” Aguirre said.

Escobar kept talking.

“If you want to answer me, you ask for time,” Aguirre said, pointing to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who intervened.

Pointing to Escobar, Aguirre said: “It’s insulting; these people lost loved ones. They lost children. I assure you that we’re not being used in any way.”

Other Angel Moms said they “do not feel exploited” and criticized Democrats for not asking them a single question.

Angel Mom Anne Fundner said, “I’m getting tired of hearing about the most comprehensive border bill.”

Fundner was referring to Democrats who claim a Senate border bill would have solved the border crisis. Senate Republicans didn’t support it, and the bill doesn’t do what it purports to do, The Center Square reported.

“The bill did zero for American citizens,” Fundner said. “I would love for somebody to [to tell] me what it actually did for American citizens.”

Several of the Angel Moms’ children were killed by Venezuelans after they illegally entered the country and were released by federal agents under Biden-Harris administration policies. The illegal aliens went on to rape and strangle to death teenagers and young adult women in Texas, Maryland, and other states, The Center Square reported.

Many illegal border crossers from Venezuela who’ve been arrested for committing violent crimes are directly linked to a parole program created by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. They include members of the violent prison gang Tren De Aragua, who are taking over apartment complexes and hotels nationwide.

Multiple state attorneys general sued to stop the parole program; House Republicans impeached Mayorkas, arguing that it and other programs he created to usher in millions of illegal border crossers are illegal.

Escobar’s remarks were no surprise to El Paso native Irene Armendariz-Jackson, a Republican who is challenging her in Texas’s 16th Congressional District.

“Escobar’s comments to the Angel Moms were degrading and lacked empathy for the American mothers who have had to bury their children because an illegal alien has murdered them,” Armendariz-Jackson told The Center Square.

Escobar, first elected in 2018, has championed Biden-Harris border policies.

“She has continuously expressed her support for illegal aliens no matter what the American human cost is,” Armendariz-Jackson said. “I sounded the alarm over four years ago, warning America that these illegals coming in through El Paso were not going to stay here and we would start hearing of Americans being killed by illegals.”

“As the wife of a retired Border Patrol agent, I know the devastation and danger that comes from open borders and as a native of El Paso, I see what our city has turned into,” she said. “I’m running to unseat the most radical and dangerous member of Congress.”

Originally published by The Center Square