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A congressional hearing featuring the victims of crimes tied to illegal immigration erupted into a tense confrontation Thursday, as Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., drew fierce backlash from grieving mothers and Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, for appearing to dismiss their tragedies while pivoting to attacks on “MAGA Republicans.”
The fiery exchange happened during a hearing focused on “The Human Toll of Sanctuary Policies,” where Johnson claimed the victims’ families’ comments were a “Steve Miller approved” stunt with the sole purpose of “stir[ring] up passion and prejudice against immigrants who are people of color.”
After offering brief condolences to the families of victims allegedly killed and critically injured by illegal immigrants, Johnson immediately pivoted to a partisan attack, arguing the committee should instead be holding hearings on the “human toll” of the “Trump MAGA tax cuts,” Trump’s foreign policy with Iran, or the “cover up of the Epstein files.”
He went on to list a string of violent crimes committed by White men, and noted the death of Renee Good, who was killed by federal authorities in January while protesting immigration enforcement.
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“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 the Republican majority of strategically “sandwich[ing]” a Democrat witness between the victims’ families for “dramatic effect.”
Gill fired back, calling Johnson’s tirade “one of the most disgusting testimonies I have ever heard,” and accused Democrat lawmakers of causing the tragedies through four years of open borders under the Biden administration.
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However, the most stinging reply to Johnson’s comments came from Jen Heiling, the mother of victim Brady Heiling, 18 — who was killed along with his girlfriend, Hallie Helgeson, 18, in 2025, when an illegal immigrant from Honduras was allegedly driving the wrong way on I-90 while intoxicated, crashing into the teens’ car.
“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 how her 11-year-old and 16-year-old children are still waiting for the teens to come home, noting that her garage stall remains empty because her son’s car is still being held as police 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, followed Heiling’s remarks by shooting back at Johnson’s comments about race, noting, “I don’t know if anybody has noticed, but I am not White. I wake up Brown every day.”
“I’m not sure what race has to do with any of this,” Fox said. “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.”
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