House Judiciary Committee holds hearings at UTEP on immigration and domestic terrorism link

A month after a white gunman targeting Latinos killed 22 people in El Paso, the Democratic-led U.S. House Judiciary Committee heard Friday from experts about the “relationship between anti-immigrant rhetoric and domestic terrorism.”

U.S. Reps. Veronica Escobar of Texas and Jerry Nadler of New York presided over a field hearing at the University of Texas El Paso focusing on conditions along the Mexican border and the violence aimed at immigrant communities.

Escobar said she blames President Trump for some of his “inflamed rhetoric.”

“Words have consequences,” Escober said. “It should be no surprise that a president who calls immigrants animals can justify treating them as such.”

Nadler, the Judiciary Committee chairman, added that House Democrats are working to enact new legislation to address rising fears about a convergence of mass shootings and hate crimes. (Watch the committee’s news conference in the video player below.)

KVIA 2019