José Antonio Ibarra, the man charged with killing Laken Riley on the campus of the University of Georgia, wasn’t just an illegal immigrant; he and his brother had a history of criminal activity that the Department of Homeland Security says it was unaware of.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) reports that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told CBS on Sunday that Athens-Clarke County, Ga., police failed to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) about crimes that Ibarra committed last fall. Ibarra had previous run-ins with police in New York and Athens-Clarke County in September and October of last year.
In September 2023, authorities in New York charged Ibarra with child endangerment and a motor vehicle license violation. He had allegedly taken a child for a ride on a moped without a helmet.
A month later, in Athens-Clarke County, police cited Ibarra and his brother Diego for shoplifting after they reportedly stole $200 in food and clothing from a Walmart location. Police did not arrest them. Athens-Clarke County claimed that it doesn’t typically arrest suspects on minor crimes like shoplifting and that immigration status checks only take place when jailers book suspects.
“We were not notified in this instance,” Mayorkas said on “Face the Nation” on CBS.
“ICE said late last month that Ibarra illegally crossed the border in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, where he was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection,” the AJC reports. “ICE said Ibarra was then paroled and released for further processing.”
Related: The Far Left Versus Everybody Else: A Tale of Reactions to the Murder of Laken Riley
ICE hasn’t disclosed Ibarra’s immigration status; however, immigration attorneys told the AJC that he may have been in the country legally under the Biden administration’s Temporary Protected Status program. The AJC added that “Venezuelans have a strong case for asylum, according to immigration experts, as millions flee political repression and poverty.”
Meanwhile, WSB Radio reports that Ibarra’s brother Diego is expected to appear in court Monday afternoon in Macon, Ga., on immigration charges. Diego Ibarra allegedly presented a fraudulent green card to the University of Georgia when he applied for a job as a dishwasher. He didn’t present the rest of the documentation that the university required, and the school fired him and never paid him.
“Authorities said since being in Athens, Diego Ibarra had been arrested three times for multiple charges, such as driving under the influence, shoplifting, and failure to appear for a fingerprintable offense,” reports WSB. “They believe Diego Ibarra arrived in Georgia from New York by Sept. 2023 after officers arrested him for the first time and charged him with driving under the influence without a license.”
The murder of Laken Riley and the other issues that have rippled out from this horrific crime have put a glaring spotlight on the Biden administration’s border failures as well as the irresponsibility of woke local governments like the one in Athens-Clarke County. Riley would be alive today if this administration had secured the border; likewise, she would be alive if Athens-Clarke County had taken the illegal immigration problem more seriously. Shame on all of them.