Johnson’s State of the Union guests include mother of woman allegedly killed by MS-13 gang member

FIRST ON FOX: Speaker Mike Johnson’s guests at the State of the Union on Thursday will include a mother who lost her son to a pill laced with fentanyl and the mother of a Maryland woman who was raped and murdered in 2022, allegedly by an MS-13 gang member.

Johnson, R-La., has invited Tammy Nobles, whose 20-year-old daughter Kayla Hamilton was killed in her mobile home in 2022, to the Thursday address by President Biden. He has also invited Stefanie Turner, who formed Texas Against Fentanyl after her son Tucker was killed by an illicit Percocet pill.

"President Biden’s open-border catastrophe is undermining the safety of our communities and ripping families apart," Johnson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Tammy Nobles and Stefanie Turner are two of the many parents who’ve experienced the devastating effects of the catastrophe at our border, having tragically lost their children to criminal aliens and fentanyl, which is pouring through our borders."

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The ongoing border crisis has become a top political issue in the days leading up to the address, with Biden expected to renew his calls for the Senate to pass a border agreement unveiled earlier this year. Republicans have blamed the crisis on the policies of the administration.

House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks while standing with Republican members of Congress, Jan. 3, 2024, in Eagle Pass, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

"I’m honored to be hosting Tammy and Stefanie at the State of the Union, as we fight for a secure border and to hold President Biden accountable for his failure to protect this country and the American people," Johnson said.

Nobles testified in the impeachment hearings of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, citing her daughter’s murder as a consequence of the crisis at the border. In 2023, police arrested an El Salvadoran 17-year-old who authorities said is linked to the MS-13 street gang and who was released into the U.S. in 2022 into the custody of his aunt after being encountered at the border.

"I’m honored to be a guest of Speaker Mike Johnson at the State of the Union. I am so glad that my efforts to share Kayla's story and bring awareness to what is happening at the border are being recognized," Nobles said in a statement. "I will continue fighting and demanding accountability for what is happening at the border. I hope positive changes will occur in the future to save many lives. Something must change."

Tammy Nobles, whose daughter was allegedly murdered by an MS-13 gang member, called for tighter border policies. (The Ingraham Angle/Screengrab)

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Turner described fentanyl, which can be fatal in tiny doses and is primarily made in Mexico and smuggled across the U.S. border, as a "clandestine killer."

"While I carry the pain of losing my only son, Tucker, I also represent all the families who have to learn to live life again after the death of their loved one. It is absolutely heartbreaking. We are so disgusted that more is not being done to stop this war on the American people. We have had enough," she said in a statement. "We must do more to educate our youth and communities!"

Republicans have tied the three-year crisis to the policies of the administration, including narrowed interior enforcement, catch-and-release and a reversal of Trump-era policies.

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Biden, who last week visited the border in Brownsville, Texas, has said Congress needs to pass reforms and provide more funding. He has backed a bipartisan Senate bill, which has failed to drum up enough support to pass. 

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The deal includes $1.4 billion in funding to cities and NGOs receiving migrants, action to tackle fentanyl smuggling and a limit on asylum claims. It would also increase detention beds to 50,000 and provide additional immigration judges. However, conservatives have opposed it, saying it is insufficient and that it would normalize high levels of illegal immigration. House Republicans have called for the passage of the GOP border legislation passed in the House last year, instead.

But Biden said it was "time to act."

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"Folks, the bipartisan border security bill is a win for the American people and a win for the people of Texas, and it's fair for those who legitimately have a right to come here," Biden said.

"The U.S. Senate needs to reconsider this bill and those senators who oppose it need to set politics aside and pass it on the merits, not on whether it's going to benefit one party or another party," he said, also calling for Johnson to put it on the floor in the House.

The White House told Fox News Digital when reached for comment Tuesday, "Speaker Johnson is making the case for the toughest bipartisan border security deal in modern history, which [the] President worked with Republicans and Democrats to deliver, but the Speaker is obstructing. Instead of choosing fentanyl traffickers, human smugglers, and Donald Trump over the Border Patrol and America’s national security, Speaker Johnson should join President Biden in supporting the safety of our communities."