The father of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley who was murdered by an illegal immigrant last month said he feels like “she’s being used” by politicians among the fight to secure the border.
NBC reporter Priscilla Thompson asked Jason Riley if “a difference in immigration policy would have made a difference” for his daughter.
“We have no idea if that would’ve changed anything,” Riley said. “But, he’s here illegally — he might not have been here had we had secure borders.”
The House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act earlier this month, a bill that would require federal immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants charged with local theft or burglary.
“The senseless murder of Laken Riley by Jose Ibarra, who had no business being in this country, was another wake-up call as Americans experience an illegal alien crime wave because of Joe Biden’s open border and local sanctuary city policies,” Rep. Mike Collins, (R-GA), who introduced the bill said.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, the illegal immigrant from Venezuela charged with the brutal murder, was arrested in New York prior to the murder, but was not detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In addition, the bill will also allow individual states to take action against the federal government “if an immigration related action harms the state or its citizens.”
“Allow states to sue the federal government for injunctive relief if an immigration related action (parole, violation of detention requirements, etc.), harms the state or its citizens. This gives states legal recourse to force the federal government to address certain failures related to border security,” a press release stated.
While Jason Riley supports Trump, he told NBC he wishes his daughter’s death would “not be so political.”
“I think it’s being used politically to get those votes,” he said. “It makes me angry. I feel like, you know, they’re just using my daughter’s name for that. And she was much better than that, and she should be raised up for the person that she is. She was an angel.”
