Mayorkas faces kin of grandma, kid killed by ‘smuggler’

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas rose out of his seat Wednesday during a tense hearing on Capitol Hill and turned to face the family of a grandmother and 7-year-old girl killed last month in a Texas car crash involving an alleged human smuggler. 

“They’re sitting right behind you,” Rep. August Pfluger (R-Texas) told Mayorkas as he presented the relatives of Maria Tambunga, 71, and her granddaughter, Emilia Tambunga, 7, during the House Homeland Security Committee hearing.

The Tambungas were killed March 13 when Rassian Natery Comer, 22, blew through a red light and smashed his truck into their car at an intersection near the Mexico border. According to authorities, Comer was fleeing police and transporting 11 illegal immigrants in his truck – two of whom also died in the wreck.

The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating Comer for human smuggling and other crimes.

“They came here today because they want answers,” Pfluger told Mayorkas of the Tambungas’ next of kin. “They came here today because of the failures of you and your leadership. They came here because they want closure.”

Pfluger then demanded that Mayorkas apologize to the family for his “failure” to secure the border, which the lawmaker argued led to the death of the Tambungas.

“Mr. Mayorkas, will you turn around and offer them your condolences and an apology for the failure of your administration that led to the death of their loved ones?” asked Pfluger. “They’re right there.”

Mayorkas partially obliged, turning to face the grieving family and expressing his condolences, but he did not offer an apology. 

“Mr. Chairman, may I stand in turn?” Mayorkas asked, before addressing the family without a microphone. 

The DHS chief could be heard telling the group, “My heart breaks for your loss. My heart breaks for the loss of all victims of criminal activity.”

Mayorkas then agreed to meet with the family in Pfluger’s office on the condition that the Republican not “politicize the meeting,” adding that the lawmaker was “politicizing tragedy.”

“Mr. Secretary, the only person politicizing anything here is you,” Pfluger shot back. “The security of this country is not a political matter.” 

Gin Jespersen, aunt to Emilia and daughter of Maria, told The Post on Wednesday that Mayorkas followed through with his promise to meet with the family, during which they showed him images of the horrific injuries the little girl suffered in the crash..

“We showed him a video of little Emilia’s head blown away,” Jespersen told The Post. 

Jespersen added that Mayorkas was very “apologetic and very sincere” during their 15-20 minute meeting, but at one point “he tried to talk a little bit of politics.”

“He said, ‘my colleagues here…’ and I said, ‘No, no, no, no, no. I don’t care if he’s Democrat or Republican, we’re going to town on all of you, all because we can’t bring them back, but we can create change. I’m asking you to work with this group here to create change. There’s no reason why you cannot create change,’” Jespersen recalled.

After Mayorkas mentioned an immigration reform bill, Jespersen said she told him, “I don’t need an immigration reform bill. I need you to send 3,000 troops down there to secure the border and then talk about immigration reform.”

“We’re all Mexican-American here, and you just ignore us,” she recalled telling the DHS chief. “It’s like we’re not down there [on the border] and it’s not happening, and it is. I would ask you to come down and be with the families.”

“We were pretty hard on him,” Jespersen said. “We wanted to be heard, not necessarily wanted to hear his rhetoric.”

She added that the family asked Mayorkas to talk to President Biden about Emilia and Maria. 

Mayorkas has faced intense scrutiny from Republicans since taking office, and more so since the GOP took control of the House after the 2022 midterm elections.

Two resolutions to impeach the DHS secretary have been introduced in the House, which accuse the Biden official of “high crimes and misdemeanors” related to his handling of the crisis at the southern border. 

Mayorkas admitted to Senate lawmakers Tuesday that there is likely to be a “surge” of migrants at the border next month when the pandemic-era Title 42 swift deportation policy ends, and he offered little to assuage Republican fears that his agency is prepared for the influx.