The College Fix

Campus violence prompts demands for immigration reform

An illegal immigrant with a record of arrests is accused of murdering a college student while she was jogging last week at the University of Georgia at Athens.

The victim, Laken Hope Riley, 22, (pictured) was found dead Thursday due to blunt force trauma to the head, CNN reports.

Allegedly, suspect Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, kidnapped Riley on Thursday morning and prevented her from calling 911, according to arrest warrants obtained by Channel 2 Action News.

Then, Ibarra allegedly killed the young woman, “disfiguring her skull” with an object, according to the warrants.

University police said they do not think the victim knew her attacker, according to CNN.

Ibarra is charged with felony murder, false imprisonment, kidnapping, and concealing the death of another, according to court documents.

He also has a previous record of arrests.

Ibarra was arrested Sept. 14 in Queens, New York, for allegedly injuring a child, according to court records obtained by News Nation correspondent Ali Bradley.

Additionally, “documents show he crossed in September of 2022 into El Paso, Texas” and was detained by immigration authorities but later was “released due to lack of detention space,” according to Bradley.

The student’s death prompted an outcry from state and federal Republican leaders who say President Joe Biden has been too lax on immigration.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp demanded the federal government secure the southern border in a Saturday letter to Biden and more than a dozen members of U.S. Congress.

“Laken Riley’s tragic death struck the hearts of Georgians everywhere and has sparked national outrage,” Kemp wrote in a post on X. “Joe Biden’s failed policies have turned every state into a border state, and I’m demanding information from him so we can protect our people when the federal government won’t!”

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson also responded to the student’s death by calling for tougher immigration policies.

Every parent, and every American, is saddened—and outraged—to hear about the loss of University of Georgia student Laken Riley. Our prayers are with her family and friends as they mourn this tragedy.

The brutal murderer who took the life of Laken was one of the millions of… https://t.co/rlNr9J6sU4

— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) February 24, 2024

Riley was a nursing student at Augusta University, which is located near the University of Georgia at Athens.

On Monday, her sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, hosted a candlelight vigil in her honor on the UGA campus, according to the university.

UGA President Jere Morehead said campus police and local law enforcement worked around the clock to identify and arrest the suspect.

“The safety and security of this campus is always center in my mind and center in all of the leadership on this campus,” Morehead said in a statement Saturday.

MORE: UNLV aids illegal immigrants with Soros-linked group

IMAGE: Laken Riley/Facebook

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