The “heartbroken” father of murdered Georgia nursing student Laken Riley pleaded with the governor and lawmakers to “declare an illegal invasion” of migrants into the U.S.
“I stand before you, a heartbroken man,” Jason Riley said before the Georgia State Senate Wednesday, a month after his 22-year-old daughter was killed while jogging on the University of Georgia campus.
“Part of my purpose has been taken. God gave me a beautiful daughter to father, protect, provide for and nurture. A man with an evil heart stole her life. He was in this country and in this state illegally,” he continued, referring to 26-year-old Venezuelan national, Jose Antonio Ibarra, who was in the U.S. illegally and has been charged with felony murder, false imprisonment, and kidnapping.
“My vision for every senator in this chamber is that you protect citizens from this illegal invasion,” Jason Riley told lawmakers, pleading with them to “recognize” that “over a million illegal aliens are in this state and making families nervous.”
“Please recognize Athens-Clarke as a sanctuary city, and this policy and the lack of action, led to the murder of my daughter,” he continued, referring to Athens, Georgia’s capital.
“There are a few of you in this chamber that are standing up and working on that solution to protect us. For that, my family is thankful,” he added before turning his remarks to Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp.
“Governor Kemp, please declare an invasion to detain and deport criminal illegals so we can prevent future families from those tragedies,” the grieving father said.
“Hundreds of women and children each month… are being smuggled, coerced, and trafficked in our state. They are victims, just like Laken. I thank you for honoring Laken in this way, and I humbly ask you to do more to protect us. She and my family mean the world to me,” he said.
“I’d like to also recognize Senator Colton Moore and Michael Gargiulo, who are great men fighting for freedom and security in our state,” Riley continued.
“They were there for our family throughout this process. I thank them and each of you for this opportunity to hear from our family and to hear our cry for help so we can protect others as Laken would have wanted,” he said.
“God be with our state and each of you. Thank you,” the father concluded.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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