On Feb. 22, nursing student Laken Riley went for a run at Lake Herrick, a recreational area on the campus of the University of Georgia. When she didn’t return, her friends called the police, who found her severely injured. Authorities pronounced her dead on the scene.
UGA police announced that the suspect in her murder, 26-year-old José Antonio Ibarra, is not a U.S. citizen, and we have every reason to believe that he’s in the country illegally. The Department of Justice has also arrested Ibarra’s brother Diego for possessing a fake green card. Despite what we know about the Ibarra brothers, mainstream media outlets like the Associated Press and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution have referred to the suspected killer as merely an “Athens resident.”
Gov. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.) wrote a letter to President Joe Biden, taking his administration to task for its failures at the border. Kemp also requested information on the circumstances that allowed José Ibarra to come to Athens to commit such a horrific crime.
Laken Riley’s tragic death struck the hearts of Georgians everywhere and has sparked national outrage.
Joe Biden’s failed policies have turned every state into a border state, and I’m demanding information from him so we can protect our people when the federal government won’t! pic.twitter.com/wsD4H6BSr6
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) February 24, 2024
Kemp began by pointing out the astonishing number of illegal immigrants who have entered the country on Biden’s watch, as well as the consequences of the porous border.
“More than nine million illegal immigrants have crossed the border since you took office — with an additional, unknown number of migrants who were not detained and processed — while at least 58 people on the terror watchlist have been encountered between ports of entry this fiscal year alone,” the governor wrote.
Related: Suspect in the Murder of a Student on the University of Georgia Campus ‘Not a U.S. Citizen’
Kemp also noted the amounts of fentanyl and meth that have come across the border since Biden took office, and he added, “In addition to the serious national security implications of this crisis, the increased burden on state and local resources is not only unsustainable, it also presents a clear and present danger to our citizens and communities.”
The governor detailed the facts of Riley’s murder and Diego Ibarra’s multiple arrests. He called out Biden and his administration because “your Department of Justice has confirmed that Diego Ibarra has been released back into the community while his asylum claims are being processed.”
Kemp reminded the president of a letter that he and other governors requested information on all illegal border crossings, the relocation process, and how the administration was handling asylum claims. He reiterated that request and added more:
Today, I renew those requests, and additionally request answers to the following questions specifically related to Laken Riley’s murder:
- Why was my administration not made aware of the asylum claims and subsequent release of an illegal resident who presented fraudulent identification?
- What is the current immigration status of Jose Antonio Ibarra and why has this information not been relayed to my administration?
- What additional information does your administration possess regarding these individuals and the circumstances surrounding their entry into the country?
Kemp insisted that “the answers to these basic questions must be provided publicly as soon as possible to ensure state and local officials have the information we need in order to keep our communities safe.” He also noted that “tragedies” like Riley’s murder “are not unique to Georgia.”
Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) whose district includes Athens-Clarke County, replied to the governor to explain that not all of the blame for incidents like Riley’s murder belongs at the president’s feet:
Thank you @GovKemp. Yes, Joe Biden has refused to do his job and secure our border, but Athens-Clarke County must also be held accountable.
The county may not specifically declare itself a sanctuary, but it employs sanctuary policies. The sheriff’s refusal to cooperate with…
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) February 24, 2024
He’s right. Athens-Clarke County is a deep blue island surrounded by a sea of counties in varying degrees of red. The county’s district attorney, Deborah Gonzalez, is a far-left prosecutor who doesn’t take her job seriously at all — unfortunately, her district also includes neighboring deep-red Oconee County.
“Her office is so poorly managed by her that, though she is authorized to have 17 Assistant District Attorneys, she has just three,” Erick Erickson reports. “In 2023, her office dismissed 46% of cases and reduced over 130 felony prosecutions to misdemeanors. She also lost fourteen murder trials in a row.”
How bad is Gonzalez? She reportedly inspired the Georgia General Assembly to set up a commission that hold prosecutors accountable for doing their jobs, and naturally, she was one of the first people to speak out against it.
Recommended: GOP Governors Visit the Border in a Show of Solidarity With Texas
Can we count on Gonzalez to prosecute this case fairly? No, unless she bows to some fierce public pressure. Gonzalez is a doctrinaire progressive, and an illegal immigrant murdering a coed goes wildly against the left’s narrative.
The death penalty should be sought for Jose Ibarra. But Athens District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez has said she won’t seek the death penalty — and said she will “take into account collateral consequences to undocumented defendants”. I sincerely hope she reverses course. pic.twitter.com/m4ufqOulOP
— Houston Gaines (@houstongaines) February 26, 2024
The left has been rushing out to moan that the right is politicizing this tragedy — that’s right, the same people who have a fresh set of calls for gun control ready after a shooting. But this scenario clearly demonstrates the failure of Biden’s border policy as well as turning a spotlight on the progressive leadership in Athens-Clarke County.
“Laken Riley would be alive if Joe Biden had secured the border,” Erickson wrote over the weekend. “Democrats can claim the GOP just blocked a deal that would have done that, but Joe Biden could secure the border without that deal, and in 2022, when Ibarra crossed the border, Joe Biden was negligent.”
Protecting our nation and individuals like Riley shouldn’t be political. It should be the right thing to do. Biden and his administration aren’t doing the right thing.
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