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Former President Donald Trump renewed a previous pledge to conduct a mass deportation of migrants in the U.S. illegally if he wins in November while referring to the illegal immigrant who was arrested for the murder of a University of Georgia nursing student as a “monster.”
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to criticize President Joe Biden, blaming him for allowing the murder of the 22-year-old woman to happen. He lambasted the administration for the surge of illegal immigrants entering the country and engaging in criminal activities.
“Crooked Joe Biden’s Border INVASION is destroying our country and killing our citizens!” Trump wrote. “The horrible murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley at the University of Georgia should have NEVER happened! The monster who took her life illegally entered our Country in 2022 … and then was released AGAIN by Radical Democrats in New York after injuring a CHILD!!”
“When I am your President, we will immediately Seal the Border, Stop the Invasion, and on Day One, we will begin the largest deportation operation of illegal CRIMINALS in American History!” Trump continued. “May God Bless Laken Riley and her family!!! Our prayers are with you!”
Riley was found dead Thursday afternoon close to a lake on the UGA campus after being reported missing. Jose Antonio Ibarra, the alleged perpetrator of the 22-year-old nursing student’s murder, reportedly entered the United States illegally by crossing the southern border into El Paso, Texas, in 2022, per a statement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) provided to the Daily Caller.
On Friday, Ibarra was arrested and accused of multiple charges, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another.
The 26-year-old suspect has a significant criminal history. He was initially arrested on September 8, 2022, by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for unlawfully entering the country. Although he was paroled and released for additional processing, Ibarra was subsequently apprehended by the New York Police Department (NYPD) and charged with endangering a child under 17. Despite ICE’s request for detention, the illegal migrant was released by the NYPD before a detainer could be issued, The DC reported.
The issue of the chaotic southwestern border and the illegal entry of some 7 million people since Biden took office and changed nearly all of Trump’s enforcement policies has become the No. 1 2024 election issue for a growing majority of Americans.
But the White House apparently is aware of that. The administration announced on Monday that Biden was making a visit to the border on Tuesday, the same day Trump is planning to be there.
Biden will visit Brownsville, Texas, while Trump plans to visit Eagle Pass, according to the Texas Tribune. The White House confirmed Biden’s visit on Monday after reports noted Trump would visit the border last week.
“Biden’s visit comes after more than 7.2 million illegal aliens, a number greater than the population of 36 U.S. states, have flooded into the U.S. throughout his first three years in office,” the Daily Wire noted. The massive wave of illegal immigration is the result of Biden eliminating nearly all of Trump’s highly effective enforcement policies, Republicans and Border Patrol agents have charged.
“The issue has become a serious threat to Biden’s re-election as polling has shown that the overwhelming majority of Americans disapprove of what is happening at the border, and they blame Biden for it,” the Daily Wire added, noting further that Biden’s hasty visit smacks of desperation.
In a statement, the Trump campaign said Biden’s visit is a “last-minute, insincere attempt to chase President Trump to the border.”
“Crooked Joe Biden has had three years to visit the border and fix the crisis he created,” said Karoline Leavitt, a Trump spokeswoman. “Now Biden’s handlers are sending him there on the same day as President Trump’s publicly reported trip, not because they actually want to solve the problem, but because they know Biden is losing terribly.”
Reports claimed that Biden will attempt to blame Republicans for the mess at the border after most refused to back a bipartisan Senate bill that still allowed as many as 5,000 migrants into the country daily — a bill that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said was “dead on arrival.” When pressed about it, Johnson said the GOP-controlled House passed a tough immigration enforcement measure last year, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) refuses to allow a vote on it in the upper chamber.
Meanwhile, the Border Patrol’s union released a statement to Fox News Digital regarding Biden’s visit, saying that “after repeatedly stating there is no crisis,” it “is too little, too late.”
The union also said “there would be no point in visiting the border now” if Biden believes his claim that he’s done all he can do within his power to secure the border.
