Dan Golvach told the Texas Senate Border Security Subcommittee last week that what he has learned from his son’s murder by an illegal alien is it is “glaringly evident, that the federal government does not seem to be very invested in securing the border.” His testimony came during National Crime Victim’s Rights Week which was observed April 19th – 25th. Other witnesses urged Texas legislators to pass an interstate compact bill because the federal government has failed to do their job “to protect our families.” They testified about the “catastrophic loss” they have faced because of a porous border.
In an exclusive interview in February, the grieving father told Breitbart Texas “my son is dead because the concept of borders is dead.” Spencer Golvach was senselessly murdered by an illegal alien who had been deported numerous times after being convicted of crimes, including crimes of violence. Spencer was shot in the head on January 31st while sitting in his car waiting for a stoplight to change.
The father of the slain young man and the father’s fiance, Dan Golvach and Gina Wagner, testified before the subcommittee of the Texas Senate Veteran Affairs and Military Installations Committee last week. Mr. Golvach told the Committee that he was in favor of a bill that would allow for an interstate compact agreement to help secure the border.
Golvach testified that his son “played by the rules,” held two jobs, had employees and paid a lot of taxes. He said “This is what his federal government did to him, did for him – nothing.” Golvach told the subcommittee “they’re not following the laws and the ramification of that is that I have a dead son.” He said it was “the constitutional duty” of elected officials to protect Americans, but he has a dead son because officials are not performing their duty.
Gina Wagner told the Senators that the loss of her fiancee’s son has been “completely catastrophic.” She added, “I no longer feel comfortable in my own country” and, that it is a “frightening reality that our borders are not secured.”
Senator Bob Hall (R-Edgewood), the author of S.B. 1252, told the couple, “This is your government stepping-up to step into what is a void,” referring to what the State of Texas has been doing and is planning. Senator Brian Birdwell (R-Granbury) told Mr. Golvach it is the “obligation of government that we must be self-governing.”
Senator Hall said he wished “the whole Legislature,” and those who want “an open and porous border” including those who “want cheap labor,” could hear this testimony first-hand. He also added, that too many people “try to pretend this does not happen.” The Senator said he wanted to “correct a situation that needs correcting.” He said the government is not doing the job they are paid to do. With regard to the motivations of those who would keep the border unsecured, he said “we know what it is, we do not have to say what it is.”
Pedro Rivera testified that he was doing so in response to the narrative that is put out that Latinos want illegal immigration, and want to throw out the book on the rule of law. He told the Senators that Latinos do not want to throw out the laws, and the media does not want to hear this. He added, “It is not a Latino issue. It is an American issue.” The retired Air Force Reservist said he was an “American first” who was there to “represent the American-first Latinos.”
Rivera wore a shirt with a photograph of Drew Rosenberg on it. Rosenberg was a young man who was killed in California in 2010 when he was on his way home from school. Rosenberg was run over and over, three times. Rivera told the Senators that 5,000 people where killed the same year by illegal aliens. He said “Our families are not safe. We need to protect our families. I want to protect your family.” He said S.B. 1252 “would help protect everyone’s family.” He testified the federal government has failed to protect our families.
Addressing sanctuary city laws, Rivera said “You’re a third-world country now. You’re a country south of the border who’s lawless, failed, corrupt. We cannot have that, we cannot have separate laws for people. Just because I have brown skin does not mean I am exempt from federal law. That’s just wrong.” Rivera said he was not raised that way, and we were all Americans who wanted to assimilate who proudly displayed flags on our porches.
The National Director of The Remembrance Project told the Committee that the word was “urgency.” S.B. 1252 was “the last hope for the rule of law,” not only for Texas, but for “everyone.” She urged that “Texas is a gateway,” and it has a higher responsibility because the federal government is not protecting our citizens. She said “We have to step-up to that responsibility.” She accused the federal government of putting Americans on a “backseat.”
In early March, Breitbart Texas obtained a leaked Texas Department of Public Safety report detailing crimes committed by illegal aliens. The Report stated:
There is ample and compelling evidence that the Texas-Mexico border is not secure, and this lack of security undermines public safety and homeland security in every region of the state. Crime has become increasingly transitory, transnational, organized, and discreet, and terrorism has become more disaggregated. An unsecure border with Mexico is the state’s most significant vulnerability as it provides criminals and would-be terrorists from around the world a reliable means to enter Texas and the nation undetected. This is especially concerning today, in light of the recent attacks and schemes around the world.
The DPS Report stated “Deported criminal aliens too often exploit the porous border and return to Texas to commit additional crimes.” It also recounted crimes committed by individuals who had been deported numerous times. Illegal aliens apprehended in Texas in 2014 numbered 313,100. Department of Homeland Security statistics reveal that more than 96,000 illegal aliens were arrested for criminal offenses and jailed between June 2011 and December 2014 in Texas alone. The crimes – 561 homicides, 27,588 assaults, 8,984 burglaries, 31,154 drug charges, 394 kidnappings, 17,133 thefts, 23,476 obstructing law enforcement charges, 1,972 robberies, 2,836 sexual assaults, and 3,770 weapons charges. The Report stated that these numbers are likely an undercount of all the crime in Texas committed by illegal aliens.
Each April, the U.S. Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) leads communities in the nation in their observances of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. The theme this year was “Engaging Communities, Empowering Victims.” The website for the OVC states that this theme emphasizes the role of the entire community, individually and collectively, to support crime victims and empower them to direct their own recovery.
During national crime week, trees were planted, walks were put on, there was funding and reparations, as well as power point presentations. Golvach’s father wants the “boomerang” of deportation and illegal reentry into the country to be stopped. He told Breitbart Texas “My son’s death was preventable.”
Golvach said politicians who talk tough on the border but do not act to protect it “can pick out one of their kids,” referencing the sacrifices he has made as a result of a porous border. Spencer Golvach’s father, and the other crime victims, are in the Golvach’s words “calling upon state and federal representatives to do what they were elected to do – protect Americans.”
Lana Shadwick is a contributing writer and legal analyst for Breitbart Texas. Follow her on Twitter @LanaShadwick2
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