Ricketts Calls on Senate Democrats to Join Effort to Pass Laken Riley Act
March 21, 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) called on Senate Democrats to help pass the Laken Riley Act. He also called on Joe Biden to secure the southern border.
The Laken Riley Act would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest and detain illegal aliens who commit theft, burglary, larceny, or shoplifting offenses. The bill was recently introduced by Senators Katie Britt (R-AL) and Ted Budd (R-NC). Ricketts is a co-sponsor.
“When people come to our border and continue to break our laws, they must be held accountable,”Ricketts said. “We must do better. This tragedy could have been avoided if President Biden didn’t have an open border policy. This tragedy could have been avoided if ICE had detained Jose Ibarra. But time after time, he was let go.”
“The Laken Riley Act would require officials to detain illegal immigrants who break the law through theft or burglary and have ICE deal with them,” Ricketts continued. “They need to be held accountable. They continue to break our laws and disrespect our laws. The Laken Riley Act will help address that injustice.”
The legislation was originally introduced by U.S. Representative Mike Collins (R-GA-10) and passed the House this month in a bipartisan vote. The bill is named after 22-year-old University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was murdered while jogging on campus last month. The alleged killer, Jose Ibarra, is an illegal alien from Venezuela. Before being charged with felony murder, Ibarra crossed the border illegally in El Paso, Texas, in September of 2022. Ibarra was once arrested in New York prior to the murder for endangering a child, and was cited in Georgia for shoplifting in October 2023 but was not detained by ICE.
TRANSCRIPT:
Senator Ricketts: “Again, our condolences to Laken Riley’s family on this horrible and senseless tragedy.
“President Biden’s open border policies have led to a humanitarian and national security crisis at our southern border. He is responsible for the human trafficking, the sex trafficking, the child trafficking, the drug trafficking that is going on there. And now we see the results of his illegal use of parole to parole in, last year, 1.2 million people into this country.
“Jose Ibarra, who is alleged to have committed this crime, was one of the illegal immigrants that was paroled into this country in September of 2022. He went to New York, because once you’re inside the country, you can move around freely. That makes every state a border state. And in New York he was picked up for child endangerment – not detained. He went to Georgia, [was] picked up for shoplifting – not detained.
“When people come to our border and continue to break our laws, they must be held accountable. We must do better.
“This tragedy could have been avoided if President Biden didn’t have an open border policy. This tragedy could have been avoided if ICE had detained Jose Ibarra. But time after time, he was let go.
“The Laken Riley Act would require officials to detain illegal immigrants who break the law through theft or burglary and have ICE deal with them. They need to be held accountable. They continue to break our laws and disrespect our laws. The Laken Riley Act will help address that injustice.
“The solution that we need here is to be able to pass this bill and then ultimately have President Biden secure the border. He has the tools to do that today. He chooses not to. He chooses not to do this.
“The 9 million people who have tried to get into this country – that is bigger than the population of New York City, where Jose Ibarra was originally arrested. Think about that. That’s how many people have attempted to get into this country in the last three years since Joe Biden opened our borders.
“These tragedies will continue to happen as long as Joe Biden fails to do his duty and secure our border. We must demand action. Thank you.”