ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Knowing Kate Steinle’s name has been painful enough. We know of her because she was killed by a criminal illegal alien in 2015. We now know Mollie Tibbetts‘ name, murdered last month, and an illegal alien has been arrested for that crime as well.

For many who did not originally support Donald Trump for president, a turning point for us was the existential danger of our open southern border. In Mr. Trump, it became clear we had a candidate who understood and was serious about dealing with the disaster of our southern border. Being blunt about the criminals enjoying the open door into our nation, liberals and the establishment gave us our first taste of the hysteria about President Trump that would come to consume them.

And then in July of 2015, Kate Steinle was shot to death by a criminal illegal alien who had been put back onto the street through San Francisco’s sanctuary policy. If they had just turned Kate’s killer over to ICE when they wanted him, she would be alive today. A San Francisco jury inexplicably found him not guilty of both murder and manslaughter. They did find him guilty of a lesser charge of being a felon in possession of a gun.

Now we know Mollie Tibbetts‘ name. Hers is a horror story of a college student going out for a jog in her small Iowa town. She was found dead in a cornfield, and authorities arrested a man who the police say confessed to stalking her, but then “blacked out” during the time he allegedly murdered her. He thought to look in his truck, found her dead body, and then buried her in the field.

He, too, is an illegal alien, living in that Iowa town for at least 4 years, perhaps as many as 7. Law enforcement doesn’t really know.

Mollie is another of so many in this country, who were victimized and harmed by people who should never have been here. Sure, there’s danger everywhere, and yet there is a simple fact: The horror of Mollie’s last moments leading to her death would not have happened had her alleged killer not been in this country.

For perspective, ‘For America,’ the grassroots conservative action group, reminded us by tweeting the toll exacted on too many families in our country: “Mollie Tibbetts, Kate Steinle,, Tessa Tranchant Dominic Durden, Grant Ronnenbeck, Jamica Williams, Kevin Will, Nabra Hassanen, Jamiel Shaw, Jose Chavez, Lauren Bump, Sarah Root, Edwin Jackson … and thousands more. None of their killers should have been in this country.”

Liberals are already refusing to acknowledge the truth of the matter. CNN must have been in a tizzy trying to figure out how to report, but not report, the story and decided on this nonsense for a headline: “Man arrested in connection with disappearance of Mollie Tibbetts.” They couldn’t even be honest about her death. No wonder CNN is being beaten in the ratings by “Ancient Aliens.”

Media bias presenting opinion as “news” is bad enough. Gossip masquerading as “news” is rightly called out as “fake news.” But even worse is the increasing penchant by the legacy media to hide facts by not reporting them at all.

For years we watched as the Republican establishment obsessed about passing “comprehensive immigration reform” consisting primarily of amnesty while offering up a vague gesture about “securing the border.”

That was a regular promise never kept, as illegal immigration increased and criminal gangs, like MS-13, continued to devastate our communities.

Candidate Trump, indicated a sea change for Americans who were constantly being lied to by a condescending establishment and their helpmate media, that was never serious about the chaos brought to our communities by millions of illegal aliens.

Some might even say the swamp preferred chaos in society, as it might keep people distracted enough from noticing the increasing politicized corruption eating away at our government, most apparently at the so-called Justice Department.

After the arrest of Mollie’s alleged murderer, an MSNBC guest referred to her as “some girl in Iowa” being talked about on Fox News while implying Fox News wasn’t covering the Manafort and Cohen stories. NewsBusters reported, “Both legal stories dominated Fox News Channel programming on Tuesday with multiple segments every hour, but that didn’t stop Greer from making that sweeping generalization and trivializing the death of a young college student allegedly at the hands of an illegal alien from Mexico.”

Mollie’s murder is a reminder about why Donald Trump is president — Americans are committed to their families, and the future. We know there are no guarantees, but we want to be as safe as possible and expect the government to act on that. We are also tired of being patronized by an increasingly out-of-touch and smug media, and having our concerns dismissed by ignorant know-it-alls in government.

Americans stand with Kate and Mollie and everyone who has, and will, face violence that is directly and specifically preventable by securing our border and reforming our immigration policy. It’s time to send another message that our deadly status quo on immigration must change.

• Tammy Bruce, president of Independent Women’s Voice, author and Fox News contributor, is a radio talk show host.

Sign up for Daily Opinion Newsletter Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.