In reaction to Laken Hope Riley’s terrible murder, a Republican legislator has filed legislation requiring US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to imprison any illegal immigrants accused with theft or burglary.
Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) filed the Laken Riley Act on Friday, which would “require the Secretary of Homeland Security to take into custody aliens who have been charged in the United States with theft, and for other purposes.”
The bill is dedicated to Laken Riley, a 22-year-old undergraduate nursing student who was recently slain on the University of Georgia campus. Riley died of blunt force trauma.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, is the culprit in the brutal crime. He is charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated violence, aggravated assault, false detention, abduction, obstructing a 911 call, and concealing Riley’s death.
ICE has established that Ibarra entered the United States unlawfully in 2022, in El Paso, Texas. He was apprehended by US Customs and Border Protection on September 8, 2022, after unlawfully crossing the southern border.
According to ICE, US border agents released the Venezuelan national awaiting a review of his immigration status.
In August 2023, Ibarra was allegedly detained by New York Police Department officers and charged with endangering a minor under the age of 17 and driving without a license.
According to the New York Post, “Ibarra, 26, was working for DoorDash, Uber Eats, and a local restaurant when he was arrested in August for endangering the welfare of a child, after he was caught in Queens riding a gas-powered moped with Franco’s son on the back, without any head protection or restraint for the child, according to police sources.”
However, the NYPD stated that it had no record of Ibarra’s claimed arrest.
Collins said on Fox News, “The senseless murder of Laken Riley by Jose Ibarra, who had no business being in this country, was another wakeup call as Americans experience an illegal alien crime wave because of Joe Biden’s open border and local sanctuary city policies.”
“I wish we could bring Laken back, but we must now turn our focus to ensuring this doesn’t happen to another American,” he said. “That’s why I introduced the Laken Riley Act.”
