Father of Teen Killed by Twice-Deported Felon Blasts Democrats on Sanctuary Policies
Anatoly Varfolomeev, whose daughter died in a crash with an undocumented immigrant who had been deported multiple times, criticized lawmakers for focusing on political messaging rather than solutions.
Grieving father Anatoly Varfolomeev issued a sharp rebuke of Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday, calling for an end to sanctuary policies after his daughter was killed in a 2021 crash involving a twice-deported felon.
Varfolomeev's 19-year-old daughter, Anya, died in the crash alongside her childhood friend. He testified on Capitol Hill that it took three years to learn more about the driver, Oscar Eduardo Ortega Anguiano, who he described as an illegal immigrant and repeat offender. Records indicate Anguiano had been deported in 2016 and 2021, had served time in prison, and was driving under the influence at the time of the incident.
Varfolomeev spoke out after Democratic Reps. Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Summer Lee of Pennsylvania appeared to suggest that a recent hearing on immigration enforcement was focused on political messaging rather than concrete solutions.
"It is outrageous," Varfolomeev said in an interview. "I don't believe what they say because they say only part of the story that they were presenting one part, not the whole story. To me, they [lawmakers] should have agreed a long time ago on a united sort of action on how to proceed and to make Americans safer."
He lamented that his family had received no response from California state officials when seeking answers about the incident. Varfolomeev also pushed back against any conflation of "immigrants" and "illegal immigrants," emphasizing that his own family came to the U.S. legally and that his daughter was born after they became citizens.
"She was a regular American girl that was killed," he stated. "And it's absolutely their responsibility... California politicians and [the] Biden administration."