Laken Riley’s parents have declined the invitation to President Biden’s State of the Union Address.
The news comes after Gov. Burt Jones has introduced new legislation to tackle sanctuary city policies.
A GOP congressman said that Riley’s parents could not stand watching Joe Biden extol his record during Thursday’s State of the Union.
Riley, 22, was murdered in February on the Athens, Georgia, campus of the University of Georgia, and Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, who already had a charge for child endangerment against him, was charged with killing her.
Republican Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia posted on X:
“I invited Laken Riley’s parents to the State of the Union address, but understandably, they have chosen to stay home as they grieve the loss of their daughter,” he wrote.
“Therefore, the seat reserved for my guest will remain vacant to honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien crime,” he wrote.
“As Joe Biden attempts to paint a rosy picture of the crime-ridden country he has created, he will look up at an empty seat that memorializes those we’ve lost because of his open border policies,” he concluded.
I invited Laken Riley’s parents to the State of the Union address, but understandably, they have chosen to stay home as they grieve the loss of their daughter.
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) March 6, 2024
Therefore, the seat reserved for my guest will remain vacant to honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien…
According to reports, Riley’s phone made a 911 call as she was beaten to death, but “no dialogue exists,” according to Athens police.
SAY HER NAME: Laken Riley.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) March 6, 2024
The Biden Administration refuses to say her name.
She’s an American citizen, but they’re more concerned with all kinds of people from all over the world.
Joe Biden has blood on his hands. pic.twitter.com/k3zkhCYReL
On Wednesday, a motion was filed requesting that Diego Ibarra, the brother of murder suspect Jose Ibarra, be detained, suggesting he may be part of a Venezuelan gang.
After Diego Ibarra was detained for having a fake green card, officials learned he had been arrested three times, with one DUI charge and two for shoplifting.
According to Prosecutors, Ibarra might have been a member of a Venezuelan prison gang called Tren de Arugula.
Prosecutors noted that Ibarra was shown with guns in social media photos.
Collins has introduced the Laken Riley Act, which would “require the Secretary of Homeland Security to take into custody aliens who have been charged in the United States with theft.”
“The senseless murder of Laken Riley by Jose Ibarra, who had no business being in this country, was another wakeup call as Americans experience an illegal alien crime wave because of Joe Biden’s open border and local sanctuary city policies,” Collins said, according to Fox News.
The bill lets states sue the federal government “if an immigration related action (parole, violation of detention requirements, etc.), harms the state or its citizens. This gives states legal resource to force the federal government to address certain failures related to border security,” Fox News reported.
