Rachel Morin murder case shows need for immigration reform, Maryland governor says

BALTIMORE -- Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said on CBS News' Face The Nation on Sunday morning after the arrest of an undocumented immigrant that Maryland mother Rachel Morin should still be alive and is calling for immigration reform.

Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, was captured at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Friday after being wanted for murder in the country for nearly a year.

"My heart is broken for the Morin family, as is our entire state," Moore said. "She should still be here."

Hernandez is accused of raping and murdering Morin, a mother of five, and leaving her off the popular Ma & Pa Trail in Harford County in August 2023.

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said Hernandez crossed the United States border illegally in February 2023 after an arrest warrant was issued for the murder of a woman in El Salvador. In March, he allegedly assaulted a 9-year-old girl and her mother in Los Angeles.

"Failed immigration policies"

Gahler said Congress and the Biden administration need to take action with stricter border policies.  

"To 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and both chambers of Congress, we are 1800 miles away, here in Harford County, 1800 miles away from the Southern border and the citizens are not safe because of failed immigration policies," he said.

Moore agreed with the sheriff.

"The sheriff is absolutely right," Moore said. "We have an immigration policy that needed to be dealt with and was not. The consequences then fall on us as the leaders of our individualized jurisdictions."

Asylum executive order issued

On June 4, President Biden issued an executive order to bar migrants who cross the Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum, according to the White House.

The executive order shuts down the border if illegal crossings reach an average of 2,500 migrants a day in a given week.

Immigration rights groups sued the Biden Administration over the executive order, saying it "severely restricts asylum and puts thousands of lives at risk."

"I agree with executive action. I also know that it is not going to be enough," Moore said. "This is not politics. Politics should not get in the way of public safety. I know for all of us who have to deal with the downstream impacts of broken policies that we know we need Congress to act on this."

"Unbelievable frustration"

Moore reiterated that Congress needs to be on the same page when it comes to stricter border policies.

"There's an unbelievable frustration, and this is what people don't like about politics, we've got to get this deal done and we've got to get Congress to act on it," Moore said.