{"id":5437,"date":"2023-09-12T15:52:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T20:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/?p=5437"},"modified":"2023-09-12T15:52:02","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T20:52:02","slug":"mother-and-grandfather-mourn-death-of-family-lost-to-border-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/?p=5437","title":{"rendered":"Mother and Grandfather Mourn Death of Family Lost to \u2018Border Crisis\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load\" title=\"Human Smuggler Rips Family Apart in Devastating Car Crash\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"about:blank\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CWy1Y6hBKzA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><noscript><iframe title=\"Human Smuggler Rips Family Apart in Devastating Car Crash\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CWy1Y6hBKzA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Emilia quickly said goodbye to her mom, eager to go inside and see her grandmother, but&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2023\/07\/26\/texas-woman-testifies-blood-dead-mother-daughter-are-multiple-hands-this-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Elisa Tambunga<\/a>&nbsp;called her 7-year-old daughter back to give her a big hug and&nbsp;kiss, and to say, \u201cI love you.\u201d Those would be the last words the mother would ever speak to her daughter. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was March 13 and Emilia had just started spring break, but her mother still needed to go to&nbsp;work. Given the option&nbsp;to go to work with her mom or spend the day with her grandmother in their hometown of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/tag\/texas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ozona, Texas<\/a>, the choice was easy for the 7-year-old. Emilia and her grandmother, Maria Tambunga, had a special bond. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe always say as a family, we think I had Emilia just for my mom,\u201d Tambunga told&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/author\/virginia-allen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Daily Signal<\/a>. \u201cThey were just inseparable.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20370%20247'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com\/live_files\/2023\/09\/IMG_0719-870x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load wp-image-1024634\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com\/live_files\/2023\/09\/IMG_0719-870x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1024634\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Tambunga&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/tag\/pregnancy-centers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">became pregnant<\/a>&nbsp;with her daughter Emilia when she was 19 and her mother \u201cwas the biggest support from the moment I found out,\u201d she said, adding that Maria Tambunga \u201cwas the most loving, strongest person I know.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being with family, according to Maria Tambunga\u2019s husband, Emilio Tambunga, was what made his wife \u201cthe happiest,\u201d and March 13 was set to be a happy day. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy wife and Emilia had arranged a play date with her cousins at the football field,\u201d Emilio Tambunga said. Elisa Tambunga planned to join her parents and daughter for dinner at home later that night but needed to take an exam for a course first. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn the middle of my accounting exam is when I got the phone call,\u201d Elisa Tambunga recalls. She immediately thought something had happened to her mother, adding that in her mind \u201cthere was just no way that something could have happened to Amelia.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt wasn\u2019t until I got to the scene that they told me it was my mom and Amelia,\u201d Elisa Tambunga said. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She soon learned that Rassian Comer, a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2023\/03\/16\/behind-scenes-look-mexican-cartels-smuggling-routes-methods\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">human smuggler<\/a>, was involved in a high-speed chase with police and had taken the life of her mother and daughter. Comer flew through a red light traveling at speeds over 100 mph and carrying 11 illegal aliens in his truck. His vehicle collided with Maria Tambunga\u2019s pickup truck, ending her life and that of Emilia, who was in the back seat. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe mutilated them,\u201d Elisa Tambunga said of the human smuggler responsible for the crash. \u201cThere\u2019s no other way to sugar coat,\u201d she said. \u201cYou know, my 7-year-old was murdered. My mom was murdered. And that all has to do with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/tag\/border-crisis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">because of our border crisis<\/a>.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The smuggler\u2019s vehicle decimated her mom\u2019s pickup truck, ambulances and police cars flashed their lights, and a helicopter landed to airlift the wounded from the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20370%20247'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com\/live_files\/2023\/09\/Car-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load wp-image-1024628\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com\/live_files\/2023\/09\/Car-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1024628\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Two of the 11 illegal aliens in the human smuggler\u2019s truck were also killed in the crash. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Emilio Tambunga says he was \u201cclose to hysterical\u201d when he learned about the accident. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBeing a Marine [and] in law enforcement \u2026 I considered myself pretty tough as far as trauma scenes, accident scenes,\u201d the grandfather and husband said. When he saw the accident, however, Emilio Tambunga says he \u201cjust fell apart.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elisa Tambunga described a chaotic scene with sirens and yelling, comparing how she felt at the accident site to something in a movie where everything is in slow motion. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI just kept yelling, \u2018Where\u2019s Amelia?\u2019\u201d Elisa Tambunga recalls. \u201cAnd they told me that she was gone, [they] just kept saying, \u2018She\u2019s gone, she\u2019s gone, Lisa.&#8217;\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The mother could not comprehend in that moment that her 7-year-old had just been killed and continued to ask, \u201c\u2019Gone where? She\u2019s not gone \u2026 where is she?\u2019 And I thought, maybe she\u2019s in an ambulance. Or maybe she\u2019s in that helicopter. I just need to find her.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20370%20247'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com\/live_files\/2023\/09\/IMG_0718-829x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load wp-image-1024636\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com\/live_files\/2023\/09\/IMG_0718-829x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1024636\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Elisa Tambunga eventually did see the bodies of her daughter and her mother, lying in a funeral home, a moment that was&nbsp;captured on video and that she later had the opportunity to show to Homeland Security Secretary&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/tag\/alejandro-mayorkas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alejandro Mayorkas<\/a>. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>About a month after the accident, Elisa, her father, and her sister traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with members of the Republican Congressional Hispanic Conference and attend a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing in which Mayorkas was testifying. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the hearing,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2023\/06\/07\/5-takeaways-congress-seeking-truth-regarding-border-crisis-title-42\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rep. August Pfluger<\/a>, R-Texas, told the story of how Maria and Emilia Tambunga were killed, and asked Mayorkas to apologize to the Tambunga family present at the hearing. Mayorkas did so and agreed to meet with the family after the hearing. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was not coming to him as another politician,\u201d Elisa Tambunga said. \u201cI went to him as a mother, as a mother grieving, as a daughter grieving.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elisa Tambunga said Mayorkas appeared \u201cvery guarded\u201d at first, but after she showed him the video of her mother and daughter lying dead in the funeral home, Mayorkas \u201clet his guard down just enough for him to be receptive to us,\u201d she said. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Elisa Tambunga says she told the DHS secretary that she \u201cwanted the border to be controlled,\u201d and for \u201cthe administration to be held accountable.\u201d She added that she&nbsp;and her family want to \u201cmake sure that not only us American citizens are being protected and kept safe, but everyone.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the moment, Elisa Tambunga says she believes Mayorkas \u201cheard us,\u201d&nbsp;but is not sure \u201chow well he kept, you know, kept it with him.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>DHS did not respond to The Daily Signal\u2019s repeated request for comment. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor me and my family, the blood of my daughter, the blood of our mom, it\u2019s on everybody\u2019s hands,\u201d Elisa said. \u201cI mean, from the administration, down to local officials, from President [Joe] Biden, to Mayorkas, to our senators, to our governors, all of them.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The mother says that instead of officials using their offices to create change, \u201cthey\u2019re using it as a political playground instead.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Tambunga family came to America from Mexico many generations ago, but \u201cwe did it the right way.\u201d She added that&nbsp;she understands the \u201csystem is broken and that it\u2019s incredibly hard to get over here. And I understand they want a better life, and we want that for them too, but we want it done the correct way.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The cartel recruited the human smuggler on TikTok, Elisa Tambunga said she learned. The smuggler is in custody and has been indicted. He faces multiple charges, including capital murder, but has not entered a plea and has not been sentenced yet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/tag\/illegal-immigration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nine surviving illegal aliens<\/a>&nbsp;who were smuggled into the country were \u201cfingerprinted and they were just let go. There [were] no interviews. There [was] no questioning. They were just released,\u201d according to Elisa Tambunga. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Customs and Border Protection and the Crockett County Sheriff\u2019s Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Daily Signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Life without Maria and Emilia Tambunga is \u201cpainful,\u201d according to Emilio Tambunga. He admitted that he has been sleeping in his granddaughter\u2019s bunkbed because he has not \u201chad the courage to sleep in my wife\u2019s, in our, bed.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The grandfather says weekends are especially hard because Emilia would often spend the weekend at her grandparents\u2019 house. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019d be the first one to wake up and ask for cereals,\u201d Emilio Tambunga said of his granddaughter, recalling how the two had a habit of mixing different types of cereals together before eating them. \u201cI kind of miss that, eating breakfast together.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20370%20247'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com\/live_files\/2023\/09\/IMG_0720-883x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load wp-image-1024633\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/first-heritage-foundation.s3.amazonaws.com\/live_files\/2023\/09\/IMG_0720-883x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1024633\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe always said the only thing we want is to create change and make sure this never happens to another family again,\u201d Elisa Tambunga said. \u201cAnd where we live, it happens constantly, and I need \u2026 Congress to hear it, that it\u2019s continuing to happen. That we need change.\u201d &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tambunga told her story before members of\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/tag\/congress\" target=\"_blank\">Congress<\/a>\u00a0during a July hearing. The mother says she is choosing to continue sharing her story \u201cso that no other mother or daughter feels this way again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Original Article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2023\/09\/11\/killed-human-smuggler-mother-grandfather-mourn-death-family-lost-border-crisis\/\">https:\/\/www.dailysignal.com\/2023\/09\/11\/killed-human-smuggler-mother-grandfather-mourn-death-family-lost-border-crisis\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Emilia quickly said goodbye to her mom, eager to go inside and see her grandmother, but&nbsp;Elisa Tambunga&nbsp;called her 7-year-old daughter back to give her a big hug and&nbsp;kiss, and to say, \u201cI love you.\u201d Those would be the last words the mother would ever speak to her daughter. &nbsp; It was March 13 and Emilia had just started spring break, but her mother still needed to go to&nbsp;work. Given the option&nbsp;to go to work with her mom or spend the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5437"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5438,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5437\/revisions\/5438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}