Laken Riley’s father Jason pleads with Georgia senators to ‘declare an illegal invasion’ after migrant was charged with murdering his daughter: ‘I stand before you a heartbroken man’

Laken Riley’s father demanded that Georgia’s state government “declare an illegal invasion” after the 22-year-old nursing student was allegedly killed by a migrant last month.

Jason Riley’s speech before the Georgia Senate comes as Laken’s death while jogging on February 22 continues to dominate headlines in retrospect.

“I stand before you, a heartbroken man,” Jason Riley said Wednesday afternoon.

‘Part of my goal has been achieved. God gave me a beautiful daughter to father, to protect, to care for and to care for. A man with a bad heart stole her life. He was in this country and in this state illegally,” he added.

Venezuelan 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra has been arrested and charged with murder, false imprisonment and kidnapping, nearly two years after he illegally entered the US from Venezuela, where his brother is believed to be a member of the Tren de Aragua gang. .

“My vision for every senator in this chamber is to protect citizens from this illegal invasion,” Riley continued.

He turned to the fact that “there are a million illegal aliens” in Georgia “making families nervous” and cited Georgia’s capital, Athens, where he spoke of a sanctuary policy.

“Please recognize Athens-Clarke as a place of refuge, and these policies and lack of action led to my daughter’s murder,” he said.

“There are some of you in this room who are standing up and working on that solution to keep us safe. My family is grateful for that.”

He then turned to Georgia’s Republican governor, Brian Kemp, in a plea to enact a statewide policy to prevent what happened to his daughter from happening to anyone else.

“Governor Kemp, please declare an invasion to detain and deport illegal criminals so we can spare future families from these tragedies,” Riley said.

“Hundreds of women and children are smuggled, coerced and trafficked in our state every month. They are victims, just like Laeken. I thank you for honoring Laeken in this way, and I humbly ask you to do more to protect us. She and my family mean the world to me.”

Ibarra entered the U.S. illegally near El Paso, Texas, in 2022, immigration officials have confirmed.

Riley’s speech before the Georgia Senate comes as Laken’s death while jogging on February 22 continues to dominate headlines.

Venezuelan 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra has been arrested and charged with murder, false imprisonment and kidnapping, nearly two years after he illegally entered the US from Venezuela, where his brother is believed to be a member of the Tren de Aragua gang.

“I stand before you, a heartbroken man,” Jason Riley said Wednesday afternoon

He allegedly killed Riley during a run near her university’s intramural fields the morning she was reported missing, before being found in a nearby forest with visible injuries.

Ibarra was identified as a suspect the next day after investigators analyzed previously unseen surveillance footage from the university campus.

The Venezuelan citizen remains in the Clarke County Jail on charges including malice murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery, as well as kidnapping and concealing the death of another.

The killing has become a political flashpoint for an already heated immigration debate that is a priority for many voters heading into November’s presidential election.

Earlier this month, Joe Biden said her name — albeit incorrectly — in what seemed like an impromptu moment during his State of the Union address. Republican front-runner Donald Trump has met with the girl’s mother and stepfather and has blamed her death on Biden’s policies at the border.

As a result, some have accused Republicans of using Riley’s death to advance their political agenda — a dynamic Jason Riley criticized Monday.

Making it clear that he supports the Republican front-runner as a candidate, he said he would favor politicians like him and that Marjorie Taylor Greene would not use his daughter’s death as a political tool.

“I’d rather not be so political (my daughter’s death) as you put it – it created a firestorm in our country,” Jason said of his daughter’s death.

Laken’s murder has become a political flashpoint for an already heated immigration debate that is a priority for many voters heading into November’s presidential election

Riley addressed Georgia’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp (pictured) in a plea to implement a statewide policy to prevent what happened to his daughter from happening to anyone else

Some have accused Republicans of using Riley’s death to advance their political agenda — a dynamic Jason Riley criticized Monday

“It has incited a lot of people,” he said, before claiming: “There are people on both sides lashing out at our families.”

Addressing the political claims, he exclaimed: “I think (her death) is being used politically to get those votes.”

“Laeken has been a rallying cry for secure borders and for this current administration’s illegal immigration policies,” the grieving father continued, before denying, “but there are many women we don’t hear about.”

The comments referenced several politicians’ use of his daughters’ names at campaign rallies and speeches in recent weeks, in what will be a hotly contested election year.

A bill honoring Laeken – eponymously named the Laken Riley Act – was passed by the Republican Party-led House.

If signed, it would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain undocumented immigrants for theft-related crimes, after the suspect and his brother were arrested months before the murder and released after being found in possession of stolen goods from a local Walmart.