Mother of Rachel Morin, murdered woman, challenges White House reporters on immigration coverage

Patty Morin, mother of Rachel Morin, the Maryland mother slain by an illegal immigrant, challenged the White House press corps Wednesday to “tell the truth” about illegal immigration and crime.

She also blasted Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat, for making a trip to El Salvador to demand the release of another illegal immigrant who was deported.

Ms. Morin said Mr. Van Hollen showed no such compassion for her family, saying the senator “barely acknowledged my daughter and the brutal death that she endured.”

“Please tell the truth,” Mr. Morin told the reporters in the White House press briefing room, where she’d been invited by press secretary Karoline Leavitt. “This is about protecting our children.”

On Monday, Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was convicted of murder and rape in Rachel Morin’s death.

Patty Morin described the new details that emerged at trial of the vicious killing, including that Rachel Morin was beaten so badly that her skull had crushed in like an eggshell.

She bled so much that her blood left an outline on the stone culvert wall where Martinez-Hernandez held her while he raped her.

“Then he strangled her because he didn’t want her to live to tell the story,” Patty Morin said.

Some members of the subdued press corps offered condolences to Ms. Morin.

The White House has accused reporters of siding with Democrats in misrepresenting the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who was deported last month and who has quickly become a martyr for liberal activists.

Citing a judge’s ruling, they say the deportation was illegal and they want Mr. Abrego Garcia back.

Mr. Van Hollen made his personal visit to El Salvador on Wednesday to try to meet with Mr. Abrego Garcia in person. Instead he got a meeting with that country’s vice president, where the U.S. senator demanded the Maryland resident’s release.

“I’m asking President [Nayib] Bukele, under his authority as president of El Salvador, to do the right thing and allow Mr. Abrego Garcia to walk out of a prison — a man who is charged with no crime, convicted of no crime, and was illegally abducted from the United States,” Mr. Van Hollen said.

Ms. Leavitt said Mr. Van Hollen is defending “an illegal alien MS-13 gang member and foreign terrorist who was deported back to his home country.”

She pointed to new court documents the Trump administration posted to social media Wednesday that showed Mr. Abrego Garcia’s wife sought an order of protection in 2021.

The court, Ms. Leavitt said, found that he punched and scratched her, ripped off her shirt and grabbed and bruised her.