Sen. Ted Cruz is calling for the execution of two illegal aliens who allegedly killed a 12-year-old girl in Houston earlier this month.

“Let me be very clear: these bastards should be executed, and they should burn in the pits of hell. But we shouldn’t have to be talking about this because Jocelyn should still be with us,” Cruz (R-TX) said during an appearance on Fox News.

The men Cruz referenced, 22-year-old Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel and 26-year-old Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, were seen with 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray on June 16 under a bridge before she was killed. The next day, her body was found in a shallow creek in North Houston. Prosecutors allege the two men strangled Nungaray and threw her body in the bayou.

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The two illegal aliens were from Venezuela, and one of them was wearing an ICE ankle monitor, reported Real Clear Politics.

Nungaray’s mother appeared on Fox News with Cruz and called for an end to illegal immigration.

“I want the nation, all around the world, to understand that she was a child. She was my child, she was my first born. She was a pre-teen that was slowly becoming this beautiful, beautiful young lady. And she was going so far. … She was going to do things,” Alexis Nungaray said in the interview. “And these men, these illegal men, took that opportunity from my daughter, from our family of watching her become this amazing person.”

“We have to stop burying our kids. This is not right. We have to have more reinforcement when it comes to letting people in. This is not OK,” she added.

Cruz urged the Biden administration to restore the Remain in Mexico policy, a policy created during the Trump administration that required migrants who applied for asylum to stay in Mexico while their cases were processed in court, reported Fox News.

Local leaders have also reacted to the death of Nungaray.

Tarrant County Republican Chairman Bo French, in a conversation with DX, remarked:

“How many more Americans have to be raped, brutalized, or murdered for our leaders to do what is necessary to completely close the border? Since Biden was elected, over 12 million potential criminals have entered our country. How many of those are planning a massive terrorist attack? Moms raped and murdered. Young girls raped and murdered. These illegals [who commit such crimes] all need the death penalty ASAP.”

Cruz and French’s comments echo those made by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday, as The Dallas Express reported. Abbott made a similar point in reference to the fatal shooting of two people at an Irving Chick-fil-A on Wednesday. The suspected shooter is an El Salvadorean citizen who is now in police custody and under an ICE hold.

“It’s time we hold our leaders responsible,” French said. “This election, vote out every democrat. Then next primary, only support people who will put American first.”

Another local stakeholder shared a slightly milder stance.

“Our system is broken when we allow criminals from another country to enter our country. It is a gift and PRIVILEGE to immigrate to America (not a right) that our current President and many citizens have forgotten. Having stated this simple fact, Anyone who commits a heinous crime should be prosecuted in our court system to the fullest extent of the law. If that person happens to be an illegal citizen, they should be deported AFTER their sentence is complete & never allowed back into this country,” Fort Worth businesswoman Cheryl Bean told DX via email.

It is important to note, The Brennan Center for Justice wrote in a recent analysis, that while all acts of violence must be taken seriously, “policymakers should not attribute blame to entire classes of people when individuals commit crimes.” The report pointed to a Texas study that concluded illegal aliens were 47% less likely to be convicted of a crime than native-born Americans, based on statistics from DPS.