Republicans at the state and national levels are pointing to the death of a woman on the University of Georgia campus in their push for tougher immigration tactics after an undocumented immigrant was charged in the killing of 22-year-old Laken Riley.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan who was previously arrested by federal authorities after having crossed the border into the U.S., was arrested in connection with the killing of Riley, an Augusta University College of Nursing student, last week. Republicans have blamed President Joe Biden's policies for her death.
Former President Donald Trump on Monday cited Ibarra and Riley on Truth Social, saying he would “immediately seal the border” if he returns to office.
“The monster who took her life illegally entered our Country in 2022…and then was released AGAIN by Radical Democrats in New York after injuring a CHILD!!” Trump said. “When I am your President, we will immediately Seal the Border, Stop the Invasion, and on Day One, we will begin the largest deportation operation of illegal CRIMINALS in American History!”
Ibarra, who lived in Athens, where the University of Georgia is based, had been arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Sept. 8, 2022, after he crossed into the U.S. He was paroled and released for further processing, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, also used Riley’s death to criticize the Biden administration.
“It’s outrageous we still have no idea who is entering this country illegally and where they’re being released,” Kemp said Sunday on X. “Americans have a right to this information, and I’m demanding the Biden administration provide it so we don’t lose even more innocent lives like Laken Riley’s.”
Riley’s body was found Thursday after a friend reported her missing when she did not return from a jog that morning in an area on the University of Georgia campus with wooded trails.
New York police arrested Ibarra, 26, about a year after federal authorities arrested him at the border, according to ICE. He was charged at the time with acting in a manner to injure a child younger than 17, as well as a motor vehicle license violation. Ibarra was released before ICE could take him into custody, the agency said.
Over the weekend, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., drew attention to Laken's death in a post on X that called on Biden to "close the border."
"The brutal murderer who took the life of Laken was one of the millions of illegal aliens that the Biden Administration simply released and unleashed upon our country," Johnson said.
In a statement, a White House spokesman said, "We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Laken Hope Riley. People should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law if they are found to be guilty. Given this is an active case, we would have to refer you to state law enforcement and ICE.”
Johnson's comments came after he criticized a recent bipartisan bill that would have included emergency authority to allow the Department of Homeland Security to close the border if migration statistics met certain parameters.
Trump was the driving force behind torpedoing the bill when he urged Republicans to vote against it. Senate Republicans ultimately blocked the legislation, arguing that the measure, which would have led to the most aggressive border law in decades, did not go far enough.
Biden, who criticized Trump’s efforts to kill the bill, has argued that Trump, his likely opponent in November, would “rather weaponize this issue than actually solve it.” Trump has asserted on social media that the border bill was a “trap for Republicans to assume the blame” for the border “just in time” for the election.
Biden and Trump are both scheduled to visit the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday. Biden will "discuss the urgent need to pass the Senate bipartisan border security agreement, the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border in decades," the White House said.
A sizable majority of Americans rate immigration as a major issue in elections. Eighty-four percent of respondents in a national Monmouth University poll this month said illegal immigration is a serious problem.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., has called on Democrats to go on the offensive with border issues, arguing that the victory by House Democratic candidate Tom Suozzi in a New York special congressional election this month could "serve as a roadmap for Democrats" in November.
"Suozzi messaged aggressively on the issue, running ads that highlighted his support for a secure border and legal pathways to citizenship," Murphy wrote in a memo to Democrats on Feb. 14. "He flipped the script on his Republican opponent, successfully painting her as unserious about border security because of her opposition to the bipartisan border bill, and turned what could have been a devastating political liability into an advantage."
