Over the weekend, Georgians were tragically reminded that every state is a border state.
Last Thursday, Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University’s Athens campus, set out for a morning jog but never came home. After her roommate contacted campus police to report her missing, authorities found Laken’s body near the University of Georgia’s intramural fields.
The initial, horrific news jolted the UGA community. Yet the new, sinister details have shaken the Peach State and enraged the nation.
On Friday night, police arrested and charged Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal Venezuelan migrant, in the murder of Laken Riley. According to multiple Department of Homeland Security and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement sources, Ibarra illegally entered El Paso, Texas in September 2022. He was then released into the country via parole.
First and foremost, my prayers are with Laken’s family, friends, and our entire Athens community during this heartbreaking and deeply unsettling time. I’m also grateful to all the law enforcement officers involved, including authorities from UGA, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Folks, Laken Riley should be alive today. Yet radical, dangerous policies failed both her and her family.
As you may know, Athens-Clarke County is one of four sanctuary cities in the Peach State. According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Guide website, Athens-Clarke County’s policies include “prohibiting local law enforcement from inquiring into an individual’s immigration status when conducting searches or questioning individuals. Additionally, the city also provides legal assistance to immigrants in need.” This sanctuary jurisdiction undoubtedly incentivizes illegal immigration — putting families, small businesses, and students in danger.
But the buck doesn’t stop there. Laken Riley’s blood is ultimately on President Biden’s hands.
From day one, Joe Biden has ignored immigration law, destroyed our border security, and incentivized illegal migration. Secretary Mayorkas has shamelessly carried out the President’s marching orders, willfully establishing a wide-open border agenda that has violated our laws and emboldened dangerous criminals like Jose Antonio Ibarra to illegally enter the U.S. Once migrants from across the world accept Biden’s invitation, they’re immediately released into our communities. In fact, Ibarra’s release into the country was made possible by the President’s abuse of parole authority, which the Biden Administration has weaponized to funnel millions of illegal aliens into the United States.
Until our border is secure and every illegal alien residing in our communities is deported, we can only expect avoidable tragedies to continue devastating our nation.
Congress must stop funding the Biden Administration’s disastrous policies — the very policies that invited Jose Antonio Ibarra into our country and emboldened him to senselessly murder Laken Riley. Please know that as lawmakers consider government funding this week, my conservative colleagues and I are fighting to attach border security, such as House Republicans’ H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, to any spending bill. Anything less is simply unacceptable.
 
 
