Proposed law pushes for tougher migrant detention following Texas girl's killing

Family members of a 12-year-old Houston girl who police say was killed by two Venezuelan men who entered the U.S. illegally said Friday that they are supporting legislation that would severely limit the ability of federal immigration authorities to release immigrants they detain.

The proposed legislation runs counter to what migrants' rights groups advocate — a move away from detention — with one such advocate calling the measure an effort “to bloat the immigration enforcement system” and “to demonize immigrant communities.”

Venezuelan nationals Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, have been charged with capital murder in the death of Jocelyn Nungaray, whose body was found in a creek June 17 after she disappeared during a walk to a convenience store. A medical examiner concluded that she was strangled.

The two men entered the United States illegally earlier this year on separate occasions near El Paso. They were arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol but later released with orders to appear in court at a later date, according to the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

Their release came through ICE’s Alternatives to Detention programs, which allow detained immigrants to be freed while their immigration cases are pending. ICE uses GPS monitoring, phone calls and a phone app to monitor them and ensure they make their court appearances.

“The two men who ripped my daughter away from me should have never been here. They should never have been roaming our streets freely, as freely as they were,” Alexis Nungaray, Jocelyn Nungaray’s mother, said at a news conference.

Following the girl's death, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls, both Republicans from Texas,