In a lawsuit filed last week, Tammy Nobles, the mother of 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton, who was allegedly raped and murdered by an MS-13 gang member, is suing the Biden administration, seeking $100 million in damages. Nobles accuses the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services of negligence in allowing the teenage El Salvadoran gang member to enter the country unchecked.
Claiming that the border authorities failed to conduct background checks, Nobles expressed her frustration, stating, “Nobody at the border did their job and checked his background,” in an interview with NewsNation. Hamilton, who had autism, was strangled with a phone cord on July 27, 2022, in her Frederick, Maryland trailer home by a 17-year-old illegal immigrant who had run away from a holding facility.
The lawsuit specifically accuses the Department of Health and Human Services of multiple failures, including allowing the suspect into the holding facility, neglecting to verify his identity through a phone call, and failing to confirm a verified sponsor for him. The family’s attorney, Brian Claypool, emphasized that the suspect had a visible gang-related tattoo, which should have prevented his entry into the country.
Six months after the murder, the authorities arrested the suspect, charging him with first-degree murder, rape, and robbery. Confirmed as an MS-13 member by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), he is currently held without bail, with his trial scheduled to begin on June 28.
Expressing their frustration with the administration’s border policies, the family’s attorney stated, “We’re bringing this lawsuit because we’re tired of being held hostage in our own country. We’re tired of DHS playing Russian roulette with our lives,” in an interview with NewsNation.
Nobles also testified before House lawmakers on Thursday as part of an impeachment inquiry into Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Highlighting the importance of border safety, she stated, “For me, this is not a political issue; this is a safety issue for everyone living in the United States,” and emphasized the need for awareness about border security.
Nobles urged that a simple phone call to El Salvador could have revealed the suspect’s MS-13 gang affiliation, preventing the tragic incident involving her daughter.
