The sister of an American allegedly killed by an illegal alien took to Capitol Hill with Angel families Tuesday calling on Congress to address the nation “in crisis.”

Avery Corcoran’s 22-year-old brother Pierce was killed in a late December car wreck. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is holding the individual arrested for driving without a license when police say he smashed into Pierce. On Tuesday, Avery Corcoran, her parents at her side, called on Congress to act, saying, “Our nation is in crisis.”

“We have received countless messages from families just like ours who have lost loved ones to car crashes, criminal homicides, other violent crimes at the hands of undocumented people,” she went on. “Sadly, in most cases, time is not served, they were repeat offenders, or they slip away into the shadows, never apprehended by law enforcement or ICE.”

She offered the definition of a crisis: “a time of intense difficulty” as well as “a time when a difficult or important decision must be made.”

“How can it be denied that we are in crisis,” Avery Corcoran asked. “Here in America, we find ourselves at a crossroads, where compromise is sorely needed from both sides. The clock is ticking and the huddled masses within our own borders need and deserve answers.”

She quoted former President Abraham Lincoln, “a house divided cannot stand” as she stated, “We the American people need protection, on that point we cannot compromise.”

Corcoran left listeners with the words written in a journal she found in the crumpled remnants of the car her brother was in when he was hit and died, “My actions still matter.” She recalled the shards of glass that filled the pages of that journal that lay on the dash of her “baby” brother’s destroyed car.

“To the members of Congress and our president, I want to say, your actions still matter,” she said. “This is not an issue of race, this is an issue of right and wrong.”

The federal government remains in a partial shutdown as Democrat congressional leadership refuses to negotiate funding for a border barrier and border security with President Donald Trump. Trump has called for $5.7 billion in funds that would build a portion of wall or fencing along the border.

Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook