Kamala Harris has faced criticism for programs she enacted while district attorney
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Testimony provided to the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday highlighted the impact that some "soft on crime" policies have had on everyday Americans, from vicious attacks on the street to an enduring fentanyl epidemic.
"Journalists and politicians like to repeat the statistic that immigrants commit less crime than Americans," Amanda Kiefer, victim of an attack by an illegal immigrant in San Francisco, told the assembled congressional members.
"Even if not manipulated, I think I find that kind of irrelevant," Kiefer said. "If we're letting in any more criminals, that's one too many. We already have enough criminals in this country, and we really do little to keep them from committing more crimes."
Kiefer in 2008 was with a group of friends when 20-year-old Alexander Izaguirre stole her purse and then attempted to run her down in a waiting SUV, fracturing her skull.
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Izaguirre was in the country illegally and had been arrested a few months prior to the attack on drug charges. But he was free due to a program launched by then-District Attorney Kamala Harris that allowed nonviolent offenders to avoid jail by entering job training and having their records expunged.
Vice President Kamala Harris during the debate at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Kiefer’s testimony on Wednesday at the "The Consequences of Soft-On-Crime Policies" hearing hit hard on the programs that put someone like Izaguirre back on the streets, accusing the politicians responsible of holding a "commitment to that Marxist principle that criminals are just victims of capitalism, that somehow a job or handout will eliminate their tendency toward violent crime."
"No-bail laws, later sentencing and identity politics-driven leniency put violent people on the streets again to harm others," Kiefer said. "There’s no fear of being caught or any reason to stop committing crimes."
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"Our vice president encouraged defunding the police in the summer of 2020 and supporting a bail fund to let violent repeat offenders out of jail: Many of them went on to commit horrible crimes."
Kiefer insisted that many of the victims of violent crimes could have been spared, citing concerns of "the backlog of sexual assault kits" and "our porous border."
Rep. Jerry Nadler on the House floor, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
"It's a gut punch," Kiefer said. "It's unfair. It's heartbreaking, and Americans need to stop putting up with it. No one's taking accountability for failing to keep the American people safe."
Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., the committee's ranking member, argued that "it is important to hear from crime victims and other impacted people," but alleged that the hearing on Wednesday had "no intent whatsoever to disguise the purpose of this hearing… to attack the surging popularity of Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz."
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Nadler tried to distance Kiefer’s suffering from a wider indictment of similar policies and programs.
"Of course, no crime prevention or reform strategy is perfect, and there will always be individuals who slip through the cracks and continue to break the law," Nadler said. "That is what happened with the individual who snatched Ms. Kiefer’s purse in 2008, when he was in the 'Back on Track' program in San Francisco."
Rep. Andy Biggs talks to reporters on Capitol Hill on July 31, 2023.
"When then-District Attorney Harris discovered that the program had mistakenly admitted undocumented immigrants who were not eligible for jobs in the United States, she quickly closed that loophole," Nadler said.
Nadler also came under fire after he appeared to close his eyes and lower his head during congressional testimony on the impacts of migrant crime on victims' families Tuesday – prompting criticism that leading Democrats are not taking the issue seriously and have disrespected those in mourning.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., however, said that "if Democrats are successful in their policy goals, the left-leaning criminal justice policies of Manhattan, Chicago, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, California, Minnesota will become common throughout the country and will actually have impact on federal imposition of criminal codes."
"I hope these hearings serve as a wake-up call to Americans to demand that the leadership abandon these policies that have made their communities less safe, and I hope it also reminds Congress of our requirement regarding federal law. Violent crime in Minnesota remains significantly elevated due to the lingering effects of the summer 2020 riots, in addition to the prosecution's refusal to hold criminals accountable," Biggs said.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report.
Peter Aitken is a Fox News Digital reporter with a focus on national and global news.
