Angela Box: Please Don't Forget The Remembrance Project
The Remembrance Project: Working Hard Across America
We are now in year two of the Trump Administration, and by any objective measure, it has been wildly successful.
But there is one big campaign promise that has yet to be fulfilled — Build That Wall.
In Congress this week, dueling factions are debating on just how much amnesty to give to people whose first act in America was to break into it.
Of course, amnesty advocates say that these DACA illegals were brought here “by no choice of their own” and that America is the only country they know.
And then they may make some blanket assertions about maids, gardeners, and nannies. You know, those jobs lazy Americans just won’t do.
But while Congress debates amnesty, there are families around the country who live with overwhelming sadness and grief every single day because one of those “nannies or gardeners” killed someone they loved.
On Tuesday, I had the great honor to attend a luncheon for The Remembrance Project.
2016 Congressional candidate Maria Espinoza and her husband Tim Lyng have been working since 2009 to bring attention to families who are the real victims of illegal immigration — and force recalcitrant legislators into action.
They were just ordinary citizens — just like you and me — who felt the need to stand and fight.
One day, Tim heard on the news about two Houston police officers who were shot and killed by an illegal alien. When Tim did some further research, he found — to his horror — that five out of six of Houston police officers were killed by illegals! He soon discovered that Houston, like many large cities in America, was a sanctuary city for illegal aliens.
Today, the term “sanctuary cities” is a common one because The Remembrance Project, the families connected to it, and President Trump have forced it into the public lexicon.
But that wasn’t always the case.
Tim and Maria realized there were hundreds of families around the country suffering because an illegal alien had killed a family member.
They decided to do something about it — and The Remembrance Project was born.
Over the next nine years, Maria and Tim have worked with state and federal legislators in the states — and directly with the Trump Administration — to make sure our leaders’ feet are held to the fire when it comes to this scourge.
The Democrats are completely beholden to illegal aliens because they need a large voting bloc of unassimilated, uneducated, low-skilled, dependent people to vote for them. Their motivations are obvious, callow, malicious, and anathema to most Americans.
But what about the Republicans who claim they want a secure border and an end to illegal immigration? Well, as any student of politics knows, our current crop of Republican leaders is almost as bad as the Democrats.
They are beholden to donations from the Chamber of Commerce and other big business interests. Many of their donors are completely dependent on illegal alien labor.
But as keynote speaker Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller reminded us: there’s not one farmer in the state of Texas who would prefer to hire an illegal over an American. Because we jettisoned the temporary migrant farm worker program, illegal immigrants are filling the void.
Illegal immigration costs American taxpayers hundreds of billions a year.
But as The Remembrance Project reminds us, illegal immigration doesn’t just cost money. It costs lives.
The entire room was brought to tears when the families who lost loved ones to illegal aliens stood to speak.
Their stories are not widely heard. The media only wants to tell us “immigration sob stories” about families being ripped apart by deportation.
I’m going to tell you some stories about families ripped apart by an illegal alien.
People like Dan and Julie Golvach. Their only child Spencer was 25 years old and a successful Houston businessman when he dropped his girlfriend off and told her he would “see her tomorrow” for her birthday dinner. He was simply sitting in his car — with his entire life ahead of him — when an illegal immigrant blew his brains out just for fun.
Then there’s Ruth Johnston Martin, whose husband of five months Officer Don Johnston was a proud LAPD police officer. One day Don was in a bank when an illegal alien pulled out a gun. An elderly man was in the line of fire, so Don pushed him out of the way — and took a bullet in the neck. It rendered him immediately paraplegic. He was able to tell a fellow officer, “tell my wife I love her.” After he said those words, he was unable to speak. After rehabilitation, he was able to — with difficulty — verbally communicate and worked for the department in a different capacity. But eventually, he too died from his injuries inflicted by an illegal alien that fateful day. As Ruth reminds us: it’s not just the one person who is taken from us. It is the legacy — the unfulfilled legacy of children and grandchildren that we will never know.
There’s Rhonda West, whose 13-year-old son Kendrick Owen was walking down the street with his friend. A drunk-driving illegal alien hit her son and dragged his body across along the road. A motorist saw what had happened and followed the illegal back to his house and confronted him. The illegal denied hitting her son, instead claiming, “I hit some debris.” To this monstrous piece of garbage her precious son was “debris.”
Many families can tell you the bureaucratic and political nightmare about dealing with slow-walking immigration officials in the Obama Administration. Not the rank and file: no. Their orders came from the top down from President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder. The brave men and women of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol, and Department of Homeland Security saw their morale hit an all-time low. They saw criminals being caught and released instead of prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
One of those monstrous stories happened to Fred Funderburg.
His son and daughter-in-law Billy and Natalee Funderburg were riding on a motorcycle at 61 miles per hour. An extremely drunk illegal immigrant hit them going 131 miles an hour and dragged their bodies 280 yards — the length of almost three football fields. His other son Jason Brian Synatschk was so overwhelmed by having to pick his brother’s brain matter and flesh out of the grooves in the street — and the thought of this illegal alien possibly getting away with murder — that he took his own life. Fred had to call on every political reserve he knew of to get the illegal alien from not being deported without a trial. He is now facing a jury trial in Bastrop County, Texas.
I talked with Deputy U.S. Marshall Cameron Welch who has been working for years to bring the murderer of Felicia Ruiz — an illegal alien named Jesus Salazar — back from Venezuela to face justice. Candidate Donald Trump promised to make this a priority for the Ruiz family. President Trump — from what I’ve been told — is working on the extradition of this murdering thug now.
And so, American citizens. We continue to battle with our own government to give voice to the voiceless families and to the communities who are the true victims of the plague of illegal immigration.
There cannot be just a handful of leaders who stand by their word. We must make every elected official stand by their commitment to border security and the end of coddling and funding illegal aliens.
Whatever it takes.
And no matter what — please don’t forget about the families of The Remembrance Project.
The Remembrance Project is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization. It depends on like-minded patriots to help continue its mission. Click here to donate today. I did, and hopefully, you will too.
Angela Box is a former teacher, devoted to the Constitution and conservatism and proud to live in Texas. A version of this article originally appeared on her blog, angelassoapbox.com.
The views expressed in this opinion article are those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by the owners of this website. If you are interested in contributing an Op-Ed to The Western Journal, you can learn about our submission guidelines and process here.
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