Laken Riley’s mother reacts to immigration bill in her daughter’s name
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Laken Riley’s grieving mother praised lawmakers for passing a landmark immigration bill in her daughter’s name – hours before President Biden accidentally called the murdered teenager ‘Lincoln.’ The Laken Riley Act passed the House of Representatives on Thursday in a 251-170 vote, which would require ICE to detain illegal immigrants charged with theft or burglary. It was pushed by Republicans in the wake of Riley’s murder, allegedly at the hands of illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra, who had previously been arrested in New York for endangering a child and in Georgia again in October 2023 on shoplifting charges.
The passage of the bill this week led Riley’s mom Allyson Phillips to take to Facebook, saying: ‘Praise God! #SayHerName LAKEN HOPE RILEY BILL – PASSED.’ Riley’s murder took center stage on Thursday evening as President Biden delivered his State of the Union address. Firebrand Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene heckled the speech shouting ‘say her name’ when the issue arose during the speech, after handing Biden a pin bearing Riley’s name.
‘Lincoln, Lincoln Riley,’ Biden said, holding up the pin. ‘An innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. ‘But how many of thousands of people being killed by legals? To her parents I say my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself, I understand,’ he said. The misspoken name sparked anger among Republicans, who blamed Riley’s murder on the White House’s weak border policies that have led to record levels of illegal immigration.
Riley was found dead on the University of Georgia campus after leaving her home for a run, suffering blunt force trauma to the head allegedly inflicted by Ibarra in what investigators said was a ‘crime of opportunity.’ Phillips previously spoke out following her daughter’s murder, and said on social media that she was comforted by how her ‘sweet Laken knew Jesus personally and she will live eternally in his home.’ In response to the killing, Georgia GOP Rep. Mike Collins introduced the bill in her name, as he stressed that Ibarra ‘had no business being in this country.’
‘(The murder) 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 told Fox News this week. After the lower house passed his bill Thursday, he took to X to ‘urge the Senate to take up this bill immediately.’ His bill would require ICE to detain any criminal charged with theft or burglary that was found to be staying in the US illegally, but was voted against by 170 Democrats in the House.
Just 37 Democrats joined every Republican in supporting the bill, with New York Congressman Jerry Nadler leading the opposition as he accused the GOP of ‘exploiting (Riley’s) death for a partisan stunt.’ He also accused Republicans of ‘throwing together legislation to target immigrants in an election year’, a claim countered by those that felt it was long overdue. After the passage of the bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson stressed that ‘Laken Riley would still be alive if the Biden Administration had done its job.’
‘House Republicans are not going to stand by quietly while the President and his administration release dangerous criminals into our communities,’ Johnson said in a statement. ‘The Laken Riley Act would help prevent future tragedies. If Senator Schumer and President Biden care to protect Americans and are serious about securing the border, they will bring this legislation up for a vote and sign it into law immediately.’ Biden’s decision to speak on Riley’s murder sparked anger among some Democrats on Thursday, after he called the alleged murderer an ‘illegal’ in an ad-libbed moment.
The awkward intra-party clash came during the heckling from Greene, as she demanded he say the name of the murdered nursing student allegedly killed by the Venezuelan immigrant. His use of the term ‘illegal’ sparked anger, with Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) tweeting afterwards that ‘No human being is illegal.’ ‘Let me be clear: No human being is illegal,’ wrote ‘squad’ member Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who immigrated from Somalia. ‘I’m extremely disappointed to hear President Biden use the word ‘illegal,’ wrote Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) calling himself a ‘proud immigrant.’
‘There was a lot of good in President Biden’s speech tonight, but his rhetoric about immigrants was incendiary and wrong,’ wrote Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) in a trio of tweets. ‘My guest for this year’s State of the Union was the widow of a North Texas rancher who was murdered by a neighbor who didn’t want Latinos living next door. Across Texas, many families can tell similar stories of hate and harassment inspired by the rhetoric of Donald Trump.
