Rep. Gowdy References Trayvon Martin: Kathryn Steinle Could Have Been Our Daughter, Obama’s Daughter

Kathryn Steinle could have been anyone’s daughter, Border Security Subcommittee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) argued Thursday during a committee hearing on the sanctuary cities.

“When Trayvon Martin was shot and even before our criminal justice system had acted the President said that could have been his son. For those of us who have daughters — and that includes the President — your daughter could have been our daughter,” Gowdy said addressing Steinle’s father Jim Steinle.

The murder of Kathryn Steinle at a San Francisco pier allegedly by a multiple deportee illegal immigrant with a long rap sheet — who had been released due to the city’s sanctuary policies — has sparked a national outcry over sanctuary cities. Thursday’s hearing sought to examine those policies.

According to Gowdy, the issue is adherence to the law.

“This is more than an academic discussion about prosecutorial discretion. It is more than political pandering to certain voting constituencies. It is more than the supremacy clause or the commandeering clause. It is quite literally life and death,” Gowdy said.

He pointed to the arguments often used by amnesty advocates noting that not all illegal immigrants are virtuous “aspiring Americans.”

“And this is the real world where everyone isn’t a DREAMer and everyone isn’t a valedictorian. There are criminals motivated by malice and the conscious disregard for the lives of others and there are cities more interested in providing a sanctuary fro those criminals than they are providing a sanctuary for law abiding citizens,” he said.

Gowdy recalled a young amnesty advocate who asked to pray with him, requesting to be able to stay in the U.S. despite being illegally in the U.S.

“And everyone that I know would want to help that little girl. But everyone also should have wanted to help your little girl, Mr. Steinle. She wasn’t five but she is still your daughter and this country should have protected her,” he said, calling for answers from the San Francisco authorities and the Obama administration.