The killing of a nursing student on the University of Georgia’s campus has turned into a new flashpoint in the national debate over illegal immigration that immediately factored into the 2024 election and could lead to significant policy shifts at the state level.
Former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden will travel to the U.S. border with Mexico on Thursday in trips announced shortly after the death of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old whose body was found near a popular trail shortly after she went for a run.
Authorities charged 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra in Riley’s killing. Federal officials say Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and accuse him of bludgeoning her to death and then “dragging the victim to a secluded area.”
The killing brought renewed attention to immigration, a theme that Trump has hammered Biden over throughout his comeback bid. Trump, the likely GOP presidential nominee, called Ibarra an “animal” and highlighted his promise to shut down the border if he’s elected to another term.
The White House, meanwhile, called for Riley’s killer to be “held accountable” and expressed condolences for her family. The border has become one of Biden’s most pressing political liabilities, and his administration is under pressure to stem the record number of illegal crossings.
In Georgia, Riley’s death set off immediate efforts to pass stricter state-level immigration laws, pushing the issue into the forefront during the final stretch of the legislative session.
The Republican-led General Assembly is considering a consequential policy shift that would empower law enforcement officials to arrest anyone with probable cause suspected of being in the country illegally and detain them for deportation proceedings. A committee advanced the proposal this week.
Credit: Nell Carroll
Credit: Nell Carroll
Lawmakers are also weighing whether to require that local governments, including sheriffs and jailers, coordinate with federal authorities on immigration issues. In Athens-Clarke County, officials check the criminal history of people in custody and keep people detained with outstanding warrants, but they don’t jail immigrants in the country illegally if they have no other criminal history.
Ibarra had been arrested by federal and local authorities in multiple jurisdictions since coming to the U.S., according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution review. That includes an a citation in October on allegations of shoplifting. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest on Dec. 20 after he failed to appear in court on that case.
“This person should not have been on the streets,” said state Rep. Houston Gaines, an Athens Republican who is a sponsor of the legislation. “We have failed this family over and over again,” he added of Riley’s relatives, “and it’s just devastating.”
Some organizations, including civil rights groups and police unions, have long raised sharp concerns about new immigration-related mandates for law enforcement authorities who are already stretched thin.
Isabel Otero of the Southern Poverty Law Center said policies that press local police and sheriff’s deputies to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally could lead to more racial profiling and shift resources away from other crimes.
“It will be difficult for local law enforcement to help end violence against women if they are burdened with more bureaucracy and with federal immigration enforcement duties that they are not equipped to handle,” said Otero, the organization’s Georgia policy director.
The sudden movement of the legislative changes has jolted the state Capitol. Earlier this month, Gov. Brian Kemp sounded a skeptical note about new legislation in the General Assembly targeting uncontrolled migration, saying he didn’t see a “pressing need” for new crackdowns.
Now, senior Republicans are rallying behind the efforts even as they lay the blame on Biden’s immigration policies. After addressing local business leaders in Athens, where Kemp lives, he spoke of the anguish that’s driving the swift response.
Credit: Nell Carroll
Credit: Nell Carroll
“It’s just a tragic situation, but they’re also mad, like I am, that this happened and it was preventable,” Kemp said. “We just have a nightmare in this country with mass migration, and then we have people that are here illegally breaking our laws.”
Democrats have cautioned about the rush to enact stricter immigration provisions. State Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, a Gwinnett County Democrat, was among many opponents of the measures who cited studies that show immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than white U.S. born citizens.
“When horrible injustices are committed, we rush to demonize the people we’ve deemed are responsible. In this instance, immigrants have been characterized as criminals and thugs,” Parkes said.
“As a proud child of immigrants, and a product of the immigrant community,” she said, “I reject that kind of xenophobia with every fiber of my being.”
Republicans in Congress are turning up the heat, too. The U.S. House Judiciary Committee demanded the Biden administration turn over more information this week about Ibarra. And U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, who represents UGA’s campus, asked local leaders in Athens to abandon policies that could be interpreted as creating a safe space for immigrants who enter the country illegally.
It cites a 2019 resolution by the county government that expresses a goal of fostering a community “where individuals and families of all statuses feel safe, are able to prosper and can breathe free.”
Athens-Clarke Mayor Kelly Girtz said Wednesday that the policy was designed to “dignify everybody’s humanity” and said local officials were standing by it. His remarks came during a press conference interrupted by protesters, some who called him a liar and held signs stating: “Blood on your hands.”
“What we wish to do is to understand that those families that are here came here in less than ideal circumstances,” Girtz said. “I’ve outlined my desire for better federal legislation that would standardize the immigration process. We’ve not been living in that environment.”
The political clash comes as surveys show the illegal border crossings and immigration-related issues have become an increasingly urgent factor for voters.
A Monmouth University poll released this week showed that public concern about illegal immigration is higher during Biden’s term than it was under Trump or when Barack Obama was president.
Nearly half of the poll’s respondents said a bipartisan border deal that Republicans scuttled at the urging of Trump — who wanted to keep illegal immigration alive as a campaign issue against Biden — isn’t tough enough. That measure would have made it harder for migrants to apply for asylum once they’ve entered the country illegally.
A separate Gallup study this month showed that Biden’s detractors cite immigration as the most oft-mentioned explanation for disapproving of his job performance.
Martha Zoller, a conservative commentator, said she’s not surprised the slaying has catapulted the issue into national prominence. She said it signals to many voters that there can’t be “real immigration reform unless the border is secure.”
“It’s not a question of left or right. It’s a question of right and wrong,” Zoller said. “If the law had been followed, Laken Riley would be alive. And people can’t stomach that.”
Staff writers Rose Manins, Tia Mitchell, Fletcher Page and Maya T. Prabhu contributed to this article.
Credit: Fletcher Page/AJC
Credit: Fletcher Page/AJC
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