Top House Republican says Joe Biden is to blame for the murder of Laken Riley, 22, by an alleged illegal migrant and demands he take executive action NOW as Senate GOP renews calls to divert $15 billion from the IRS to the southern border

House Whip Tom Emmer joins Donald Trump in blaming Joe Biden for the southern border crisis that led to the killing of 22-year-old Laken Riley.

The University of Georgia nursing student went for a run last week when she was killed by head trauma, according to UGA police, and her body was left in the woods.

The horrific crime has renewed calls for more action at the southern border, especially in vetting those entering the country without legal status.

The lack of security and control at the southern border has led Republicans to blame Democratic policies for the crimes committed by illegal immigrants in the US – including the recent murder of Riley.

“Laken Riley was murdered because of Joe Biden’s open borders policy,” Republican House Representative Tom Emmer told DailyMail.com.

“Accountability must start with the Biden administration undoing the 64 executive actions that effectively opened our borders and created this deadly crisis in the first place,” the Minnesota lawmaker added.

Both Biden and Trump are visiting Texas on Thursday as the border quickly became one of the biggest issues in the 2024 election.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other immigration officials have long said they are overwhelmed at the border. Republicans want to hire more CBP agents.

Republican Senator Tim Scott floated his previously proposed plan to use the $15 billion Democrats wanted to use to fund a massive deployment of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents to instead boost border security.

But Republicans in the House of Representatives have maintained that the improvements included in their already-passed border security bill (HR 2) would be sufficient to solve the challenges facing border officials.

The House package would bring back a number of Trump-era immigration policies, including Remain in Mexico, which would require those seeking asylum to wait in Mexico while their U.S. asylum claims are processed.

The House-passed bill would also resume construction of the southern border wall, make it easier for minors who cross the border without their parents to be deported and allow migrant families to be held in detention for longer periods, in the hope that it comes to an end. catch and release policy.

President Biden promised to veto the legislation, although he will not get the chance to do so because it will not come up in the Democratic-led Senate.

ICE enforcement and removal operations arrested 73,822 immigrants with criminal histories in fiscal year 2023, with each illegal immigrant having committed an average of four crimes per suspect.

Venezuelan immigrant Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, entered the US illegally in 2022, was granted border parole and allowed to enter the country.

In New York, Ibarra was charged with allegedly acting in a manner harmful to a child and driving without a license before heading to Georgia, where he is now charged with Riley’s murder.

Police arrested and charged Ibarra with malice murder, criminal mischief, aggravated assault, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, obstructing a 911 call and concealing the death of another.

Ibarra’s brother Diego, who is also an illegal immigrant, had three pending charges in Georgia before he was charged Friday with green card fraud after an interview with police in the search for Jose.

Former President Donald Trump says it is Biden’s fault that the nursing student was killed and pointed to the president’s lax policies at the southern border and the massive influx at the border since he took office.

Riley studied nursing at the University of Georgia. She went jogging last week and was reported missing by her roommate when she didn’t return. Her body was found in a wooded area near Lake Herrick.

Riley’s family responded to her killing by asking for prayers and privacy in a statement to Fox News.

‘Crooked Joe Biden’s Border INVASION Is Destroying Our Country & Killing Our Citizens!’ Trump complained in a Truth Social post on Monday.

“The horrific murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley at the University of Georgia should NEVER have happened!” he added. “The monster who illegally took his own life entered our country in 2022… and was then released AGAIN by the Radical Democrats in New York after injuring a CHILD!!”

Ibarra is being held in the Athens-Clarke County Jail. The 26-year-old is not a U.S. citizen but lives near Athens, Georgia. A judge denied bond Saturday morning.

The latter only supports Republicans’ claims that with such a large flow of migration across the border, it is impossible to know for sure who will be allowed to live in the country for months and years at a time while they await asylum proceedings.

The border has become a No. 1 issue for Americans in recent years, especially Republicans and pro-Trump subsets of the party.

Trump has promised the “largest deportation” of illegal immigrants in American history if he becomes president again in 2024.

Meanwhile, Biden is trying to address the issue before November.

Reports emerged that Biden is considering executive action at the border that would create stricter standards for seeking asylum and allow for an expedited deportation process for illegal crossings.

Democrats and progressives complain that this is too similar to what Trump did at the border during his time in office.

Biden will visit the southern border in Texas on Thursday, which the White House announced after Trump said he would also go to the border state that day.

“If I am your President, we will immediately close the border, stop the invasion, and on day one we will begin the largest deportation operation of illegal CRIMINALS in American history!” Trump wrote in his post. “May God bless Laken Riley and her family!!! Our prayers are with you!’

Biden’s visit to the southern border state this week will take place in Brownsville, Texas, where the president will meet with U.S. Border Patrol agents, law enforcement officials and local leaders.

Trump’s Thursday visit will take place about 300 miles from Biden to the northwest along the border with Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Record numbers of migrants have crossed the southern border under Biden.

There were a record number of migrant encounters in December, when Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported a new high of 301,983 crossings in one month. This number does not include escapees – or those who evaded detection by border authorities.