“Continued silence” from the White House amid suspicion that a “non-citizen” was responsible for the death of a Georgia nursing student had the governor making demands of the president.
Initially considered a “crime of opportunity” by the University of Georgia Police chief, the buck for the murder of 22-year-old Augusta University student Laken Riley stopped at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as far as Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) was concerned.
Friday, the governor issued a letter to President Joe Biden demanding answers after the suspect, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, was believed to have been paroled into the country by the incumbent’s Department of Homeland Security.
Referencing concerns previously raised along with 24 fellow state executives in a September 2023 letter, Kemp’s new message to Biden asserted, “Frankly, Mr. President, your continued silence in response to these reasonable requests is outrageous. The American people deserve to know who is illegally entering our country due to your administration’s failures, and what risks and challenges every state must now face.”
Laken Riley’s tragic death struck the hearts of Georgians everywhere and has sparked national outrage.
Joe Biden’s failed policies have turned every state into a border state, and I’m demanding information from him so we can protect our people when the federal government won’t! pic.twitter.com/wsD4H6BSr6
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) February 24, 2024
After Ibarra had been arrested and charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another, UGA Police Chief Jeffrey L. Clark had noted Friday, “Right now I don’t know his full status.”
However, NewsNation correspondent Ali Bradley had been among those in contact with sources at DHS that confirmed “Ibarra is here illegally from Venezuela,” and that documents showed, “he crossed in September of 2022 into El Paso, Texas and was released due to lack of detention space.”
Those details prompted Kemp’s questions regarding the border crisis as it specifically pertained to the homicide:
- Why was my administration not made aware of the asylum claims and subsequent release of an illegal resident who presented fraudulent identification?
- What is the current immigration status of Jose Antonio Ibarra and why has this information not been relayed to my administration?
- What additional information does your administration possess regarding these individuals and the circumstances surrounding their entry into the country?
“While media reports surrounding this case have relied on sources and leaks from your own federal agencies, the answers to these basic questions must be provided publicly as soon as possible to ensure state and local officials have the information we need in order to keep our communities safe,” wrote the governor who also asserted if Biden continued to neglect the border to “ensure Laken Riley’s horrible fate is not replicated across the country,” then the “administration must provide the information necessary for Georgia and other states to protect our citizens.”
Meanwhile, during Friday’s White House press briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre continued to run with the narrative that Republican legislators were at fault after not agreeing to the $118 billion border deal that sent the majority of those funds overseas and would have permitted nearly 2 million illegal entries into the country per year.
“And that’s how seriously the President has taken it,” said the spokeswoman. “We’ve done this for months, and House Republicans have gotten in the way. The speaker has gotten in the way.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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