by: Matthew Boyle
Several victims of crimes committed by illegal aliens criticized Speaker John Boehner’s absence at an event on the southern U.S. border in McAllen, Texas Saturday, saying the Ohio Republican and champion of immigration reform should witness the violence spilling over from Mexico first hand.
The group had earlier invited Boehner and his family to tour the border with them, but Boehner’s office has not responded to the letter or issued any public statement about it since the invitation.
“Thank you all for being here this afternoon—we came down here to McAllen, Texas, where we had sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner to come down and join us on this border to see firsthand the issues that are going on down here,” George Wilkerson, whose son Josh was murdered by an illegal alien in November 2010, said at a press conference on Saturday.
Behind Mr. Wilkerson was a tent with several empty chairs, underneath a banner reading: “McAllen TX Welcomes Spkr John Boehner & Family.”
“We are part of the victims of the problem out here—our son was murdered in Pearland, Texas, from an illegal immigrant,” George Wilkerson said at the event, hosted by the Remembrance Project—a group devoted to remembering victims of horrific crimes like murder and homicide committed by illegal aliens.
“We have invited John to come down here, and his family, to see firsthand what’s going on and as you can see they failed to show up for us,” George Wilkerson said. “I think they need to show up and give us some respect.”
“He was tortured, beaten to death, strangled and then set on fire,” Laura Wilkerson, with her husband George at her side, added about their son Josh’s murder by an illegal alien. “We know firsthand what it feels like to have that happen to a family. Again, we invited John Boehner down here to see—this is a learning weekend for us to come down here and actually see what’s going on as opposed to some snippets you see on the news. We really thought this one American child might be worth coming down just to take a look and see what’s actually here and walk where we’re walking and find out just exactly what is the truth about what’s going on.”
