PHX Reporter

Anne Reardon, a Phoenix resident and member of the St. Theresa parish, said "the open southern border is causing innumerable tragedies" and endangering the country's children. 

"Securing the border will protect vulnerable children and individuals struggling with addiction," Reardon said. “The open southern border is causing innumerable tragedies, including child sex abuse and drug distribution that leads to overdoses."

“These tragedies are avoidable through stronger border control," she said. "We as Catholics have a duty to vote in a way that protects the most vulnerable in our society.”

A convicted child predator was taken into custody in Arizona this year after illegally re-entering the country through the southern border. 

The man has a record of two felony convictions for child sex crimes in St. George, Utah. He faces prosecution for illegal reentry into the U.S. for an aggravated felony.

However, this is a recurring problem that the United States has seen under “border czar” Vice President and Democratic President nominee Kamala Harris. 

Just days before this event, CBP agents apprehended five additional sex offenders throughout the Texas area, reported Fox News. 

John Modlin, Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, regularly posts the arrests of previously convicted offenders on his X account, many of whom have previous convictions for child sex crimes. 

Under Vice President Kamala Harris’ watch, migrant crossings have reached an all time high; with 250,000 migrants crossing the southern border in December of 2023. The previous record was 224,000 in May of 2022, also under the Biden-Harris Administration. 

In another case, an 11-year-old girl was raped, beaten, and murdered by an 18-year-old illegal immigrant, Juan Garcia-Rodriguez. Her body was found by her father in a trash bag, inside of a hamper under her bed. Garcia-Rodriguez entered the country illegally under President Joe Biden’s administration while Vice President Kamala Harris was in charge of the border. 

"From an FBI perspective, we are seeing a wide array of very dangerous threats that emanate from the border. And that includes everything from drug trafficking – the FBI alone seized enough fentanyl in the last two years to kill 270 million people – that’s just on the fentanyl side," said FBI Director Christopher Wray.