The husband of a woman who was murdered by an illegal immigrant a decade ago has blasted Donald Trump for demonizing foreigners living in the United States and the right-wing media for trying to make his wife an anti-immigration poster girl.

Andy Ostroy found his wife Adrienne Shelly, an actress and filmmaker who starred in indie hit Waitress, dead in her office in Manhattan’s West Village on November 1, 2006.

She had been brutally murdered by Diego Pillco, a 19-year-old undocumented construction worker from Ecuador who later said that he killed her because he feared Shelly would report him and have him deported.

In the years since, Ostroy says he's had offers from members of the conservative media – including Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly – to speak out and ‘give legitimacy to the right-wing anti-immigration sentiment.’

‘Who better than a Democrat to attack an entire segment of our population, right?’ he writes in an op-ed for The New York Times.

Andy Ostroy, whose wife Adrienne Shelly (left) was murdered by an illegal immigrant a decade ago, has blasted Donald Trump for demonizing foreigners living in the United States. Right, Ostroy at a 2008 fundraising gala for his wife's foundation)

In the piece, Ostroy blasted the anti-immigrant rhetoric that is the foundation of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

He insists that his wife was not murdered by an illegal immigrant, but that she ‘fell victim to a depraved killer who simply happened to be an undocumented immigrant.’

He adds: ‘It’s an obvious distinction, almost too obvious, but it’s an important one to consider as the country goes further down the dangerous path of demonizing those not born here.’

Recalling the tragedy of his wife’s murder, Ostroy says her killer staged her death to look like a suicide. The couple’s daughter was two at the time.

And because there was no clear motive or witnesses to the crime, Ostroy was advised to accept a deal that would send Pillco to prison for 25 years with no parole.

‘It was an agonizing decision: roll the dice for a life sentence or possibly end up with a manslaughter conviction, with her killer receiving a meager three to five years in prison,’ he wrote.

Adrienne Shelly was an actress and filmmaker who starred in 2007 film Waitress (above, Shelly in the film)

He notes that Pillco will be a ‘free man at 44’ while his wife’s ‘vibrant life was snuffed out at 40.’

And given the anger and grief he continues to feel almost a decade to the day since her murder, Ostroy says he could easily be seduced by the rhetoric Trump is peddling.

The Republican nominee infamously began his presidential run last year with a speech in which he branded Mexican immigrants ‘criminals’ and ‘rapists.’

And the 70-year-old real estate mogul has repeatedly doubled down on the sentiment, saying in last week’s final presidential debate that the country is filled with ‘bad hombres’ and ‘we need to get them out.’

He has pledged to build a wall on the US-Mexico border and repeatedly insisted that he will force Mexico to pay for it.

Shelly was killed by Diego Pillco (above), a 19-year-old undocumented construction worker from Ecuador

Ostroy says Pillco’s reason for killing his wife and the lenient sentence he received ‘certainly feeds Mr Trump’s xenophobic, fear-mongering narrative.’

But he adds: ‘Attributing his heinous act to his immigration status dilutes the more relevant truth that he lacked the ability to know right from wrong and had zero respect for human life.’

Trump uses ‘murders like Adrienne’s – though never hers specifically, fortunately – as political props,’ Ostroy says.

In his op-ed for the New York Times, Ostroy branded the billionaire businessman a ‘xenophobic agitator’

He brands the billionaire businessman a ‘xenophobic agitator.’

It’s politically expedient for Trump to scapegoat the millions of foreigners who come to United States seeking a better life, Ostroy says, but his ‘malevolence toward immigrants runs counter to the principles on which out great nation was founded.

With the exception of Native Americans, America is inhabited by immigrants and the descendants of immigrants who fled religious and ethnic persecution, he says.

‘That millions of people face a similar fate on out soil is deplorable,’ he says, using a term Hillary Clinton has previously used to refer to Trump supporters.

And while Ostroy accepts that the country does have an immigration problem that is in need of reform, he disputes some of the claims that Trump has made when speaking about illegal immigrants.

He notes that while Trump often claims two million undocumented immigrants have been convicted of crimes, the actual figure is 176,000, citing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Ostroy says he’s had offers from members of the conservative media – including Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly (left and right) to ‘give legitimacy to the right-wing anti-immigration sentiment’

‘Yes, some illegal immigrants commit crimes, some of them violent,’ Ostroy says.

‘But so do blacks, whites, Asians, Christians and Jews.. The reality is, Americans have appreciably more to fear from their fellow citizens than from undocumented immigrants.’

Ostroy concludes that the government needs to do more to secure borders, deport criminals and protect Americans from terrorism.

But he also believes we must find ‘a realistic, humane path to citizenship for the millions of decent, hard-working immigrants who love this country as much as I do, regardless of whether they are documented or not.’

He adds: ‘We need the kind of compassionate reform that Democrats have been advocating for decades in the face of persistent Republican obstructionism.