Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer who is challenging President Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, promised to enforce immigration laws and strengthen border security after an illegal immigrant allegedly killed five people in Texas, including a young boy.
In a series of Wednesday tweets, Kennedy noted that 38-year-old Francisco Oropeza Perez-Torres, who was arrested Tuesday, had been deported to Mexico at least four times prior to the April 28 shooting in Cleveland, Texas. A source from U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) previously told Fox News Digital that Perez-Torres had been deported five times.
He was arrested Tuesday in Cut and Shoot, Texas following a days-long manhunt involving local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
TEXAS FUGITIVE ACCUSED OF KILLING 5 WAS ILLEGALLY IN US; DEPORTED 5 TIMES
"Francisco Oropeza Perez-Torres has been arrested for the murder of 5 people," Kennedy wrote. "It is not anti-immigrant bigotry to demand an immigration system that keeps out criminals. In fact, letting them in stokes bigotry. As President, I will enforce a secure border, and I will expand the kind of LEGAL immigration that made our country great."
Perez-Torres allegedly killed five neighbors after one of them asked him to stop firing a rifle in his yard so his baby could sleep. According to the San Jacinto County Sheriff's Office, after the conversation, Oropesa allegedly entered the neighboring home and killed five of the 10 people inside.
The victims have been identified as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25, Daniel Enrique Laso Guzman, 8, Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21, Julisa Molina Rivera, 31, and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18.
In another tweet, Kennedy noted that it was possible to be pro-immigration and be in favor of closing the border.
"Yes. America should be a haven of freedom and prosperity, open to law-abiding migrants who will contribute to our society," he wrote. "However, immigration must proceed in an orderly, lawful manner."
He noted that there was "chaos" at the southern border amid high levels of human trafficking and stress on border states.
"It is a humanitarian nightmare," he wrote.
He also urged officials to address U.S. policies that create the conditions that cause many migrants to flee their countries in the first place, citing the war on drugs.
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"The War on Drugs is one," Kennedy posted. "U.S.-funded dictators, juntas, paramilitaries, and death squads. Neoliberal extraction of resources. Unpayable debts. It is inhumane and hypocritical to deny immigration while creating the conditions that drive immigration. As President, I will change these policies. That’s the only long-term solution to the border crisis."