The Biden White House claimed the border was safe, the federal authorities had a course of for processing migrants and that deportations had been unreasonable shortly after the suspect in final week’s brutal University of Georgia homicide entered the nation illegally in September 2022.
President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre all lauded the administration’s work to safe the southern border and deal with migrant flows on the time. Their feedback, although, have taken on a brand new that means after it was revealed Jose Antonio Ibarra, the suspect charged with murdering former University of Georgia scholar Laken Riley, crossed into the United States illegally on Sept. 8, 2022, after touring from Venezuela.
“We have a secure border in that, that is a priority for any nation including ours and our administration,” Harris remarked throughout an interview with NBC News on Sept. 12, 2022, 4 days after Ibarra crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.
Harris added that points associated to immigration remained, akin to the necessity for a “pathway for citizenship.”
AP REPORT ON LAKEN RILEY MURDER OMITS SUSPECT’S IMMIGRATION STATUS, FOCUSES ON DANGERS OF WOMEN JOGGING ALONE
University of Georgia homicide suspect Jose Ibarra lived inside a five-minute stroll of the approximate scene the place he allegedly murdered 22-year-old nursing scholar Laken Riley on Feb. 22. (Mark Sims for Fox News Digital/ Laken Riley/ Jose Ibarra)
One day after Harris’ feedback, Jean-Pierre reiterated throughout a press briefing that the border was safe.
“As far as the border, we’re taking unprecedented action,” she instructed reporters. “We had to fix something that was broken, especially by the last administration. We’ve secured record levels — this is what we have been able to do — of funding for the Department of Homeland Security.”
And, throughout a press briefing two days in a while Sept. 15, 2022, Jean-Pierre reiterated that the Biden administration had taken “unprecedented action” to safe the border and “rebuild a safer and orderly process system.” She additional boasted that border brokers had made 3,000 arrests associated to human trafficking enforcement.
TRUMP BLAMES ‘BIDEN’S BORDER INVASION’ FOR LAKEN RILEY MURDER, VOWS ‘LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION’ IF ELECTED
Later that very same day, the president repeated Jean-Pierre’s feedback in remarks on the annual Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala. Biden additionally blasted Republicans for “playing politics” in reference to governors sending busloads of unlawful immigrants to sanctuary cities.
“I’m proud that the Obama-Biden administration stood up for DREAMers,” Biden mentioned. “My predecessor tried to end DACA, but the Biden-Harris administration is working to preserve it and fortify it. And with Secretary Mayorkas’s leadership, we’re committed to fixing the immigration system.”
“Instead of working with us on solutions, Republicans are playing politics with human beings, using them as props. What they’re doing is simply wrong. It’s un-American. It’s reckless,” he added. “And we have a process in place to manage migrants at the border. We’re working to make sure it’s safe and orderly and humane.”
LAKEN RILEY CASE: GEORGIA AUTHORITIES IDENTIFY MURDER SUSPECT IN CUSTODY IN NURSING STUDENT’S SLAYING
Then, on Sept. 20, after a reporter requested Biden why the border had turn into overwhelmed throughout his presidency, he mentioned extra migrants are coming from sure nations together with Venezuela, the place Ibarra traveled from weeks earlier. The president then rapidly dominated out deportations.
“What’s on my watch now is Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua. And the ability to send them back to those states is not rational,” he commented. “You could send them back and have them — we’re working with Mexico and other countries to see if we can stop the flow. But that’s the difference.”
President Biden remarked on Sept. 20, 2022, that deporting unlawful immigrants who traveled from Venezuela was “not rational.” (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP by way of Getty Images)
The feedback from Biden, Harris and Jean-Pierre got here amid a surge in unlawful immigration that started shortly after Biden entered workplace in early 2021.
In September 2022, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) reported 227,547, up 18% year-over-year. The determine represented a far greater quantity than these reported in the course of the Trump administration, when brokers typically reported lower than 58,000 encounters within the month of September.
Then-CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus famous on the time that the determine was pushed greater by migrants touring to the U.S. from Venezuela.
LAKEN RILEY MURDER SUSPECT JOSE IBARRA LIVED WITHIN 5-MINUTE WALK OF UGA CRIME SCENE
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally in September 2022. In an announcement to Fox News Digital, ICE confirmed he had been encountered by CBP after coming into close to El Paso, Texas, and was “paroled and released for further processing.”
President Biden walks alongside a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, close to the place Ibarra entered the nation months earlier. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
ICE additionally confirmed that Ibarra had been arrested by the New York Police Department a 12 months later, on Sept. 14, 2023, and “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.”
Police in Georgia accused Ibarra of murdering Riley, a 22-year-old UGA nursing scholar, and charged him with malice homicide, felony homicide, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 name and concealing the loss of life of one other, authorities mentioned on Friday.
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Riley, a nursing scholar on the neighboring Augusta University was discovered lifeless Thursday after she left her dormitory to go on a run.
“We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Laken Hope Riley,” a White House spokesperson instructed Fox News Digital. “People should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law if they are found to be guilty. Given this is an active case, we would have to refer you to state law enforcement and ICE.”
The White House did not reply to a request for remark about its feedback concerning the border being safe in September 2022.
