The More We Learn About the Alleged Murderer of GA Nursing Student, the Worse It Gets

The murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley last Thursday while out for a jog on the University of Georgia campus has grabbed headlines. The horrific tragedy of the senseless crime is compounded by the fact that her alleged murderer, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, was in the country illegally and should have been incarcerated.

The AP Becomes the Google Gemini of Wire Services With Its Coverage of Laken Riley's Murder

As Breanna Morello reports on her Substack, Ibarra was initially detained after entering the U.S. illegally in 2022 but paroled and released. He was then arrested in New York in September 2023, only to be released by authorities there before Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) could place a detainer on him.

I reached out to ICE and asked them if they placed a detainer on Ibarra after his NYC arrest. ICE tells me they were unable to place a detainer on Ibarra because the NYPD had already released him.
Here’s ICE’s full statement to me:
“Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old citizen of Venezuela, was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Sept. 8, 2022, after unlawfully entering the United States near El Paso, Texas. He was paroled and released for further processing. On Sept. 14, 2023, Ibarra was arrested by the New York Police Department and charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation. He was released by the NYPD before a detainer could be issued. On Feb. 23, 2024, ERO Atlanta encountered Ibarra pursuant to his arrest by the University of Georgia Police Department and being charged with murder and other crimes. ERO Atlanta lodged a detainer.”

In other words, because of lax immigration policies at the border and lax law enforcement policies in New York, Jose Ibarra was free to move about the country despite being here illegally and having been charged with criminal behavior on top of that.

While Jose Ibarra may not have had a direct connection to Riley — the murder is being described as a "crime of opportunity" — his brother, Diego, had a connection to the University of Georgia. Diego, though he also entered the country illegally and was subsequently arrested for DUI and shoplifting, is alleged to have used a fake green card to obtain a job as a dishwasher at one of the university's dining halls.

The good news is both Jose and Diego Ibarra are currently being held. Unfortunately, that comes too late for Laken Riley, as noted by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp.

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

This case tragically highlights the perils of lax law enforcement and immigration policies embraced by the Biden administration and states like New York and California.

RedState's Managing Editor, Jennifer Van Laar, sounded the alarm on the unwillingness of state and local officials in "sanctuary" jurisdictions to work with federal immigration authorities following California's passage of SB54 (a/k/a, the "California Values Act"), which prevents state and local law enforcement agencies from using their resources on behalf of federal immigration enforcement agencies. As Van Laar observed in 2020:

Preventable victims like Marilyn Pharis and Gracie Aguilar, both of whom were killed by illegal aliens who offended again almost immediately after being released from California jails.
Pharis, an Air Force veteran, was sexually assaulted and brutally beaten to death by two men, one of whom was an illegal alien whose ICE detainers were ignored by jailers. She fought back and had the strength to call 911 after her attackers fled. From her hospital bed, she asked her sister, “Why did they have to beat me?”
(Read about how sanctuary state policies allowed Pharis’ murderer to be on the streets to rape and bludgeon.)
Six-year-old Gracie was mowed down in her own front yard by a drunk driver, an illegal alien who had been arrested numerous times for drunk driving. She was an only child; her parents had saved for years for the in vitro treatment that led to her conception.
These stories resonate with me because in addition to covering them for RedState, I’ve spoken with the devastated family members left behind. Garcetti, Moore and Villanueva have to be aware of similar stories. How can they continue to act the way they do and champion such destructive, heartless, and contrary-to-the-rule-of-law policies?
Nope, they’re all about ensuring that criminal illegal aliens – who are the ones ICE is targeting – feel like they have a green light from law enforcement. Feelings are what’s really important, right?

CA's Newsom Wasted His Political Capital by Prioritizing Illegal Aliens - Again

The issue of New York's failed immigration policies was recently highlighted following the late January assault on police officers by a group of "asylum seekers."

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis pointed to the Jan. 27 assault of the officers, allegedly by a group of men seeking asylum, to argue that New York City should start aiding federal immigration officials in deportations.
“We need to have the back of our police officers, we need to keep our city safe, and we need to deport individuals who are here, and are committing crimes against our citizenry,” Malliotakis, the sole Republican representing New York City in the House, said less than a block from where the attack occurred during a press conference Monday.
...
Standing alongside Malliotakis and several conservative City Council members was Ken Genalo, director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s New York City field office, who said: “Due to city policies and state law, cooperation is no longer afforded between NYPD, our law enforcement partners, and ICE. Unfortunately, a lot of the way that we have to do our intelligence at ICE is the same way you find out about cases, through the media.”
...
Malliotakis said the NYPD’s “hands are tied,” but claimed that the Times Square melee caught on camera was one of just many crimes committed by migrants.
She said that this past fiscal year, ICE issued 109 detainer requests to the NYPD but none were honored due to sanctuary city policies.

Immigration remains a top issue on voters' minds in an election year, and incidents like the horrific murder of Laken Riley serve to underscore the dangers of lax enforcement policies (and an extraordinarily porous border) embraced by Democratic "leaders." Vote accordingly.