ICYMI: Sen. Cruz, DA Ogg Op-Ed in Houston Chronicle: ‘Jocelyn Nungaray's Murder Shows How ICE Must Change’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In Case You Missed In: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg penned an op-ed calling on leaders to set partisan differences aside and to work together towards practical solutions to protect our children from predators who enter the country illegally. Sen. Cruz recently introduced the Justice for Jocelyn Act with Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas-22). This bill would improve the detention and tracking of illegal aliens entering the United States.

In the piece, Sen. Cruz and DA Ogg wrote, “Our children’s safety should not be a partisan issue. One of us, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, is a Republican. And the other of us, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, is a Democrat. We are both working to protect our kids from predators, including those who enter the country illegally.

“In the U.S. Senate, Cruz has introduced the Justice for Jocelyn Act of 2024, which would require ICE to fill every detention center bed before releasing immigrants who entered the country illegally to an Alternatives to Detention program, and to immediately deport those who violate the terms of their release.

“In Houston, Ogg formed a Homicide Division to focus the best of the best on the worst of the worst. The most experienced prosecutors take on the most dangerous killers, including those who murdered Jocelyn. Ogg has publicly stated that if the evidence supports a death-penalty eligible charge against the two killers, she’ll bring it. In the meantime, she supports Sen. Cruz’s legislation because it will make everyone safer.

The op-ed ran in the Houston Chronicle and can be read here or below:

The savage murders of 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Peña on a summer night in 1993 horrified Houstonians and the nation. The teenagers cut through a park to get home by curfew, when they encountered a street gang of six young men who grabbed them. The girls were thrown into a gang initiation of rape, torture, and murder. Their bodies were left to rot by White Oak Bayou.

Among the killers was José Medellín, a Mexican national who had illegally entered the United States and spent most of his life here. The gang members raped, sodomized and strangled the girls, finally growing so impatient with their inability to kill them that they stomped them to death. And they kept trophies, including Jennifer’s Disney watch, which was given to a gang member’s little brother.

One of us, Kim Ogg, was the chief gang prosecutor for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in 1993. Along with fellow prosecutors, she helped police deliver justice. All six murderers were arrested within days and ultimately, five were sentenced to death. The lone juvenile got the maximum, 40 years.

As the case moved through the legal system, it ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court. One of us, Ted Cruz, was then solicitor general of Texas, and defended the right of Texans to sentence a foreign national to death for a capital crime. The Supreme Court agreed, and in 2008, Medellín was executed.

Thirty-one years after the murders of Jennifer and Elizabeth, a similarly brutal attack, with some of the same haunting hallmarks, has shaken our city. It has also brought together leaders from across the political aisle to protect our most innocent victims: children.

On June 17, 2024, the body of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was found, nude from the waist down, submerged in another Houston bayou. She had been strangled to death and likely sexually assaulted. Two Venezuelan nationals, who entered the country illegally, have been arrested, charged and remain in custody.

Both men charged with Jocelyn’s murder had just recently entered Texas illegally and been captured in El Paso, where they were enrolled in the “Alternatives to Detention” program. This meant they were released into the interior of the United States, despite the availability of ICE detention center beds, where they could have been held until their immigration court hearings. This program did not protect Jocelyn. In fact, such “catch and release” policies don’t protect anyone.

Jocelyn’s murder is not just a tragic loss for her family, but a painful reminder of the nation’s failed border policies and the dangers that we all face as a result. Houston is a hub for immigrants who enter the country illegally because of the labor market and our proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border. When records of past criminal behavior are absent, U.S. officials are in the dark about those they “catch and release” and where they go. In Jocelyn’s case, these killers came to Houston. In 1993, society could do little more than help the Peña and Ertman families pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. But 2024 is different.

Our children’s safety should not be a partisan issue. One of us, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, is a Republican. And the other of us, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, is a Democrat. We are both working to protect our kids from predators, including those who enter the country illegally.

In the U.S. Senate, Cruz has introduced the Justice for Jocelyn Act of 2024, which would require ICE to fill every detention center bed before releasing immigrants who entered the country illegally to an Alternatives to Detention program, and to immediately deport those who violate the terms of their release.

In Houston, Ogg formed a Homicide Division to focus the best of the best on the worst of the worst. The most experienced prosecutors take on the most dangerous killers, including those who murdered Jocelyn. Ogg has publicly stated that if the evidence supports a death-penalty eligible charge against the two killers, she’ll bring it. In the meantime, she supports Sen. Cruz’s legislation because it will make everyone safer.

In moments like these, it is critical that our leaders set aside partisan differences and work together toward practical solutions. We owe it to Jennifer, Elizabeth and Jocelyn.

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