U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) along with several of her U.S. House counterparts from Tennessee, penned a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers after an illegal alien living in Franklin allegedly raped several boys over a period of years.
“Tennesseans deserve to know why DHS permitted a criminal to live in their community for decades and abuse their children after entering the country illegally,” Blackburn told The Tennessee Star Tuesday. “It is time to secure the southern border, deport criminal illegal aliens, and ensure our communities are safe. Until we get this crisis under control, every town is a border town, and every state is a border state.”
The letter says in part:
We write to express our disgust with this administration’s complete failure to secure our border and enforce the rule of law, the effects of which are impacting communities and families across the country. President Biden’s decision to allow over 1.5 million “gotaways” to enter the country without consequence is a blatant dereliction of duty, particularly because we know that this group of migrants who evade our border patrol agents often have criminal records and are potentially the most dangerous. Because of this administration’s policies, every state has become a border state, and every town has become a border town. But recently, Tennesseans have been hit the hardest.
Camilo Hurtado Campos lived in Franklin for about 20 years, according to investigators.
“The 63-year-old soccer coach has lived in Franklin for the last 20 years, with that time split between two neighborhoods: Hill Estates and, most recently, on Glass Lane in the downtown Franklin area,” the Franklin Police Department (FPD) said. “During off-hours, Campos frequented nearby school playgrounds in both neighborhoods where he approached kids and recruited them as players on his team. After gaining their trust, Campos invited many of the kids to his home where he drugged and then raped them.”
After leaving his phone at a local restaurant, employees found several graphic photos and videos while trying to identify the phone’s owner, and reported them to the police.
Campos is being held on charges of rape and sexual exploitation of a minor while police continue their investigation. Last week, The Star reported that five more alleged victims of the soccer coach had come forward.
Blackburn’s letter, cosigned by Reps. Mark Green (R-TN-07), Tim Burchett (R-TN-02), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01), Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) and John Rose (R-TN-06) continues:
While this administration has spent years defending its failed border policies as compassionate and humane, there is nothing compassionate about policies that allow a child sexual predator and serial rapist to remain in an American community undetected for more than two decades. The simple fact remains: if Camilo Campos had been arrested at any point in the past twenty years for his violation of federal law, these precious children would not have been subjected to his horrific abuse. Violence against children is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable, and Tennesseans deserve to know why the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) permitted this criminal to live in their community and abuse their children after entering the country illegally.
The letter concludes with a series of questions, including whether DHS was aware that Campos was in the United States illegally, whether Campos was ever given a notice to appear in front of a court due to his immigration status, and if he showed up for the hearing, and whether DHS ever initiated any law enforcement actions against Campos.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Remember this story when people act like deporting those illegals who have already been living here a while is too big of a job or is too harsh.