A San Antonio college student was murdered, his body burned, by an illegal immigrant who had no legal right to be here. Have you heard the story of Jared Vargas?
You’re about to because I’m Tomi and it’s time for “First Thoughts.”
Monday on Fox Nation we kick off “Keeping America Safe Month” and I want to dedicate this month and these "First Thoughts" to the Vargas family.
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Their son Jared was brutally murdered by Esquivel-Garcia, an illegal immigrant.
He should have never been in this country in this first place. He should have been deported. Not only is he an illegal immigrant, but he is a dangerous illegal immigratn WITH A RECORD. But he wasn’t sent packing. Why?
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Let’s go through the timeline that led up to Jared Vargas’ murder.
In March 2017, Esquivel-Garcia was arrested for drunk driving. ICE put an immigration detainer on him, beginning deportation proceedings that would take a year to complete.
Then in April, he was RELEASED by an immigration judge on bond. In January 2018 Garcia was given 12 months probation.
Well, in May a warrant for his arrest was issued for VIOLATING conditions of his release BUT he was not immediately arrested.
Rather, he was given a “voluntary departure order” to leave the country by July 20, 2018.
A “voluntary departure order” means he won’t be denied for future legal immigration IF he leaves as scheduled.
Well, low and behold, just two weeks later on May 25, 2018, Garcia was arrested by ICE for the outstanding warrant and transferred to local authorities.
Then, four days later, for still unknown reasons, local authorities RETURNED him to ICE.
He was simply released and reminded to get out of the country by July 20th -- because of that voluntary departure order.
Twenty-year-old San Antonio college student Jared Vargas was last seen leaving his job at Bowl and Barrel, a restaurant Garcia also worked at potentially under false paperwork.
Two days later Jared Vargas’ body was found in his burning apartment. Garcia was arrested and charged with murder, arson, and abuse of a corpse.
This NEVER should have happened. What happened to Jared Vargas was 100 percent preventable but our immigration system and lax enforcement of the law allowed Garcia to slip through the cracks and take an American life.
Yet, we didn’t hear much about it. Why is that? You know Kate Steinle, Mollie Tibbetts, Jamil Shaw but you’ve likely never heard of Jared Vargas.
Well, I spoke to the Vargas family a couple weeks ago at the “Battle at the Border” town hall in San Antonio and they are determined to change that.
In his memory, the created a giant collage of Jared’s photos and turned it into a puzzle. They gave me this puzzle piece as a reminder of his life, what it was worth, and why we will NEVER stop fighting this fight.
Illegal immigrants have no place in this country and the fact that Democrats are more concerned with their safety and comfort than that of young men like Jared Vargas is a blunt reminder of what’s at stake in these next two weeks.
No family should have to go bury their 20-year-old son because an illegal immigrant was allowed to sneak in this country, commit crimes in this country and stay in this country.
Vargas family, I’m right alongside you in this fight.
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Those are my "First Thoughts." Don’t forget to check out “Keeping America Safe” this month exclusively right here on Fox Nation.
From L.A., God bless and take care.
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Adapted from Tomi Lahren's "First Thoughts" monologue on Fox Nation.
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