The tragic murder of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley by Venezuelan illegal migrant Jose Antonio Ibarra has brought renewed scrutiny to the Biden administration’s handling of the ongoing crisis on our southern border. Ibarra was released due to “insufficient detention capacity” and ultimately killed Riley as a result. The tragedy was the focus of a heated exchange during a recent Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs hearing.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) went right after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the administration’s use of the parole system. Hawley accused Mayorkas of illegally citing “lack of detention capacity” as a reason for releasing Ibarra and then being untruthful about it.
“The reason he was paroled into this country is because of lack of detention capacity which you and I both know is not a valid reason,” Hawley told Mayorkas. The senator emphasized that parole should only be granted on a case-by-case basis mandated by law for urgent
humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit criteria clearly not met in Ibarra’s release.
Despite Ibarra’s criminal record and subsequent offenses including an unprosecuted child injury case in New York his case was handled with perplexing leniency. Shockingly he was granted legal work authorization even after his criminal history inside the U.S. had been established.
President of Judicial Watch Tom Fitton tweeted, “Biden’s DHS Secretary Mayorkas admits killer of Laken Riley was wrongfully released into the USA due to ‘lack of detention capacity.’ Outrageous!”
Mayorkas admitting to ongoing struggles in housing detainees while simultaneously requesting Congress reduce available bed space shows a clear incompetence — or worse — that will clearly not be what is needed in order to stop or even manage the immigration crisis the U.S. has yet to feel the repercussions of.
