Republican lawmakers are demanding that Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas turn over information on Jose Antonio Ibarra, the illegal alien who is charged with the murder of a Georgia nursing student last week.
Twenty-two-year-old Laken Riley was murdered as she jogged on a popular trail on the campus of the University of Georgia in broad daylight. Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Tom McClintock (R-CA) of the House Judiciary Committee sent a two-page letter to Mayorkas requesting information on Ibarra. The arrest in Georgia was not Ibarra’s first arrest and the committee chair and McClintock have questions.
Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, both Republicans, signed on to a letter to Mayorkas, too, with other Senate Judiciary colleagues demanding answers on how Ibarra was granted parole into the United States. By law, immigration parole is only to be granted at the discretion of the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on a case-by-case basis, in instances of “urgent humanitarian reason or significant public benefit.”
Senator Cornyn’s office sent out a press release on the letter.
This letter was led by Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and signed by other Republicans. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Kennedy (R-LA), Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) also signed the letter.
“Show us your work.” The letter includes a March 8 deadline from the senators for Mayorkas to provide any documentation concerning Ibarra.
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Jose Antonio Ibarra, the suspect charged in the murder of Augusta University student Laken Riley, is a Venezuelan national who entered the United States illegally in September 2022 and was subsequently released by the Department of Homeland Security through a grant of parole. We are deeply saddened by this senseless and preventable act of violence, and we write today demanding answers about how Ibarra was allowed to enter and remain in the United States.
Under section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, immigration parole should only be granted on a case-by-case basis, and only if there is an urgent humanitarian reason or significant public benefit justifying a grant of parole. We have previously expressed significant doubts as to how the Department has been able to make hundreds of thousands of case-by-case determinations for parole every year, but you have assured Congress in your sworn prior testimony that the Department makes an individual determination for each individual alien granted parole. Regarding the use of parole, you testified on November 8, 2023, “We make our decision on case-by-case basis.” That must also apply to Ibarra’ s grant of parole.
We demand that you show us your work. No later than March 8th, please provide us with a copy of the case file for Jose Antonio Ibarra, including the record showing what urgent humanitarian reason or significant public benefit justified the decision to grant him parole.
Does anyone think that Mayorkas will meet that deadline? Will he even acknowledge the request for information? He ignores taking responsibility for the chaos and the humanitarian crisis along the southern border at every turn. He and his boss, President Biden, say that the border is secure. Everything is fine, nothing to see here. Lately, though, the situation has gotten so bad with press coverage of the consequences of the open border that Joe Biden is taking a little time out of his visits to ice cream shops and trips to his homes in Delaware to go to the border tomorrow.
I’m sure it is just a coincidence that Donald Trump will also be on the Texas border with Mexico tomorrow, too. Never mind that Trump announced his trip days ago. Biden said yesterday that he didn’t know Trump would be in Eagle Pass, Texas while he (Biden) would be in Brownsville until he scheduled his trip. That’s his story and he’s sticking to it, at least for as long as he can remember it. Will Brownsville be sanitized as El Paso was for Biden’s quick trip there last year? Yes. You can count on it.
Both Brownsville and Eagle Pass have seen a drop in illegal immigration in recent weeks. It is a traditionally slow time of year for illegal immigration. Cartels have moved their operations west since Eagle Pass has been secured by Governor Abbott, not Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas. Cartel bosses aren’t stupid. They move along the border as needed. One spot closes up and they re-group and find another spot for human trafficking and smuggling drugs into the country.
If Biden wanted to get a better understanding of his intentional border crisis, he would go to Arizona or Southern California where illegal immigration is booming. Arizona is currently the top hotspot for illegal border crossings. Don’t hold your breath for Biden to show interest. He only goes to Arizona to fundraise and make campaign speeches.