Progressives are showing “vicious” contempt of the many ordinary Americans whose spouses, siblings or children have been killed, robbed, or raped by illegal-alien criminals, says advocate Maria Espinoza, who is helping government officials count the death toll of open-border policies.

The progressives’ contempt is showing itself as progressives ridicule the new hotline created to help Americans monitor the multi-agency investigations and prosecutions of illegal aliens who have robbed, raped, or murdered other Americans living outside high-status and well-guarded, wealthy districts, such as Bethesda, Beverly Hills, or the upper East Side of New York.

DHS Secretary John Kelly unveiled the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office hotline in a somber ceremony in late April. Callous leftists immediately began “trolling” the line, and the established media piled on. “We Asked ICE About the Prank Calls to Their Anti-Immigrant Hotline and They Kind of Lost Their Shit,” an eyeroll-inducing Fusion headline reads.

“People Are Reporting Criminal (Space) Aliens To New ICE Hotline,” NPR giggles.

“Top-level trolling overloads ICE’s undocumented immigrant hotline with calls about space aliens,” said the CNN report, which approvingly quotes snarky leftists bragging on social media about attacking a program meant to help families stricken with grief and trying to navigate a massive federal bureaucracy.

Despite the sneering, illegal aliens do in fact commit a great deal of crime. Illegal aliens commit “22 percent to 37 percent of all murders in the nation,” according to a retired San Jose, California detective.

But Democrats and leftists slam anyone simply seeking information about the frequency and scale of illegal alien crime—and they also ridicule the American victims of that crime.

“I found these vicious acts of hate toward ICE/VOICE and our ‘stolen lives’ families disturbing and callous,” Espinoza told Breitbart News. “Clearly, the perpetrators intended to obstruct government administration, and to delay, if not completely shut down, families trying to obtain the critical information and help they so badly need,” she said.

ICE officials warned that harassing the hotline will hurt victims and families seeking justice. “The campaign to generate hoax calls is disrespectful to victims of crime and their families, and a waste of government resources,” one agency official told Breitbart News. “Secretary Kelly made clear in his announcement Wednesday that this phone line is to be dedicated for the use of victims seeking information and resources related to the civil immigration system. Tying up a hotline with hoax calls is neither an appropriate nor constructive way to express one’s opinions and it may prevent legitimate victims of crime from receiving the information and resources they seek.”

DHS and VOICE operate the DHS-Victim Information and Notification Exchange (DHS-VINE)—the automated, national system which sends automatic updates regarding custody information about a specific illegal alien charged with, or convicted of, a crime. The taxpayer-provided service simply allows anyone, citizens or non-citizens, to privately keep track of court appearances and release dates.

Those who lost loved ones at the hands of illegal aliens have told Breitbart News in detail how difficult it is to seek justice for a child or spouse suddenly cut down because the government refused to enforce the nation’s routine immigration laws. For example, parents may wait years for a trial to take place, may be forced to hire an attorney out of their own pocket as they struggle to pay the bills while mired in grief, and then watch their child’s killer describe exactly how he murdered him while on the stand.

“You’ve never been faced with the evil, and with the trauma,” Angel Mom Laura Wilkerson said on SiriusXM.

Espinoza condemned the vindictive efforts to newly inflict pain on the victims of illegal alien crime. “As we have seen many times before, the intolerant left leads the way in the re-victimization of families who have already suffered enough from the radical policies of a radical Democrat party,” she said. “From working with our families for so many years through so many disappointments, I can only imagine the added heartache and pain these heartless people have caused the families.”

One progressive bitterly complained that the hotline’s mere existence was “racist” because it distinguished between citizens and non-citizens. “The VOICE tip line has nothing to do with helping victims. It provides no service, just refers you elsewhere,” he explained on Twitter, before wildly theorizing: “VOICE exists ONLY to collect anecdotes for Trump and his allies to demonize and de-humanize our [illegal] immigrant neighbors and families.” He also told CNN he would keep pushing a harassment campaign until the hotline was “shut down.”

Espinoza strongly objected to accusations of racism.

“Those who claim VOICE is a racist program, it’s evident they ignored the fact that this program was inspired by Latinos!” she told Breitbart News. “America First Latinos” sent a letter to all 50 governors in April 2015, calling for a program that would link state and local governments with non-profits to assist families of illegal alien crime. “Violent illegal alien crime, especially crimes resulting in the deaths of American citizens, are like none other in our system of legal justice,” the letter stated. “In every case, the perpetrator who had gained access to our loved ones was illegally in the country; aided by the failure of the government of the United States to protect our nation’s border, enforce current laws, and legislate for citizens.”

“We have been working very hard for two years for a program for the families of victims who were killed by illegal aliens due to the politician’s unwillingness to enforce current laws and afford Americans their rights under our Constitution,” Espinoza added.

“[B]ecause of years and years of policies complicating immigration and enforcement efforts, and a politically-correct approach to public safety, there are mothers who will never again receive a Mother’s Day card from a son,” said Secretary Kelly, who has lost a son in Afghanistan, to victims of illegal alien crime Wednesday. “There are husbands who will never again kiss their wives. There are children who will never get to graduate from high school. These victims of illegal aliens aren’t data points.”

“They’re people,” he said.