The family of 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student Laken Riley received a measure of justice Wednesday when a judge found illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra guilty on all 10 counts he was charged with, including kidnapping, aggravated assault with intent to rape, and four counts of murder.
The verdict should deliver some peace to Riley’s family and other female college students in Athens, Georgia, but there is still far more work to be done to ensure this entirely preventable brutality never happens again.
Ibarra was first encountered by federal law enforcement officials on Sep. 8, 2022, when he was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol near El Paso, Texas, for the crime of illegally crossing the southern border. Instead of detaining him for deportation, as required by federal law, President Joe Biden used his parole authority to release Ibarra, along with hundreds of other illegal border crossers who were arrested that day, into the country.
If Biden had kept President-elect Donald Trump’s Remain in Mexico policy and returned Ibarra to Mexico instead of letting him stay in the United States, Riley would still be alive today.
Fast forward to Sep. 14, 2023, and Ibarra is again arrested, this time by the New York Police Department for driving without a license and endangering a child. Not only did New York City prosecutors choose not to prosecute Ibarra, but following the jurisdiction’s sanctuary city policy, they did not notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials that he had again broken the law.
If New York City did not have a sanctuary policy, and if it was the policy of the Biden administration to detain and deport inadmissible aliens who commit crimes, Riley would still be alive today.
Ibarra then bought an airline ticket from New York City to Athens, Georgia, using taxpayers’ money. He chose Athens as his destination because his brother, who was also on parole following his arrest after illegally entering the country and had benefited from sanctuary policies after he was arrested for driving under the influence, had secured a job in Athens using a fraudulent Social Security number. If Biden had detained Ibarra’s brother at the border, and if Athens had reported him to ICE after his DUI arrest, then Riley would still be alive today.
The crimes and chaos caused by the Ibarra’s of the Biden era are a big part of why Trump won reelection. Not only does Trump have a clear mandate to end Biden’s catch-and-release policies on the southern border and other parole programs, but he also should use the federal government’s leverage to force Democrat-controlled jurisdictions, such as New York City, to end their sanctuary policies and help deport criminal aliens.
Unfortunately, even after losing soundly at the polls, Democrats are signaling they want to keep protecting the illegal immigrants. Govs. J.B. Pritzker (D-IL), Maura Healey (D-MA), and Phil Murphy (D-NJ) have pledged to do everything in their power to stop Trump from deporting illegal immigrants.
“You come for my people, you come through me,” Pritzker told reporters last week.
Immigrants such as Ibarra are his people? Who knew? It doesn’t sound like a popular political line.
However, just this week, the Los Angeles City Council passed a sanctuary law prohibiting the use of any city personnel or resources for any federal immigration enforcement.
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If law enforcement in Democratic-controlled jurisdictions do not want to cooperate with ICE, Trump should rescind Department of Justice block grants to those cities. If Democrats persist, all federal block grants, including HUD Community Development and Transportation Department Infrastructure grants, should be rescinded.
The criminal justice system exists not just to help provide closure to victim’s families by punishing the guilty. It is meant to prevent crimes. For too long, the Democratic Party has prioritized the welfare of illegal immigrants over the safety of citizens. Trump and the Republican Party must make sure that changes. The nation will thank them if they do.