The father of Laken Riley called on Gov. Brian Kemp to “detain and deport” immigrants who entered the country without legal permission after a Venezuelan man was arrested in connection with her death.
Jason Riley addressed the Georgia Senate on Wednesday after being presented with a resolution honoring his daughter’s life.
“Gov. Kemp, please declare an invasion to detain and deport criminal illegals so we can prevent future families from those tragedies,” Jason Riley said.
Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was killed last month near the University of Georgia’s intramural fields when she went running. Police charged Jose Antonio Ibarra with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing Riley’s death.
Authorities say Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case.
The comments come two days after Jason Riley said in an interview on NBC News that aired Monday that he was unsure whether changes to immigration policy could have stopped his daughter’s killing.
He also voiced discomfort that his daughter’s slaying has become politicized.
“I feel like she’s being used somewhat politically,” he said.
Asked how that made him feel, he told NBC: “It makes me angry. She was much better than that.”
But on Wednesday, Riley asked the senators to “do more to protect us.”
“My vision for every senator in this chamber is that you protect citizens from this illegal invasion,” he read from prepared remarks. “Please recognize Athens-Clarke is a sanctuary city and this policy and the lack of action led to the murder of my daughter. There are a few of you in this chamber that are standing up and working on a solution to protect us. For that, my family is thankful, Laken is thankful.”
Laken Riley’s death has reignited a debate over the nation’s broken immigration system, especially in this year’s presidential race.
Former President Donald Trump blamed President Joe Biden and his border policies for the Augusta University student’s fatal beating. Biden has criticized Republicans for turning against a bipartisan border security deal after Trump decried it.
Many studies have found immigrants are less likely to be arrested for violent crimes than native-born citizens.
Still, Republican lawmakers in Georgia have pushed tougher immigration policies since the death of Laken Riley.
The House last month passed House Bill 1105, which would permit police to arrest, with probable cause, anyone who is suspected of being in the country illegally and detain them for deportation. Another bill, House Bill 301, would allow residents to sue local governments they believe are not following immigration laws.
Jason and Amanda Riley, Laken Riley’s stepmother, and stepsiblings were guests of state Sen. Colton Moore, a Trenton Republican who recently misrepresented the work of volunteers who assist former detainees from the Stewart Detention Center in South Georgia who were apprehended by U.S. border authorities.
The volunteers were from the nonprofit group Team Libertad that has openly helped immigrants navigate Atlanta’s airport since 2020. Moore called it “secret trafficking” of immigrants.
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