Georgia student's death emerges as example in migration battle

( The Hill)-- The death of a Georgia student has taken spotlight in Washington's fights over immigration, as previous President Trump and his allies lean into the concern to attack President Biden and Democrats over the border.

Trump, whose signature concern is border security, has repeatedly slammed Biden's policies over the death of 22-year-old Laken Riley.

Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University's Athens campus, was discovered dead last Thursday after her roommate reported that she did not return from a run in the wooded area of the University of Georgia school. A 26-year-old Venezuelan resident named Jose Ibarra was jailed in connection to her death and charged with murder.

U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement has actually said Ibarra went into the country illegally in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, from Mexico and was released for additional processing after being detained.

" We have a brand-new category of migrant crime, and it's going to be more severe than violent criminal activity and criminal offense as we know it," Trump said throughout his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference recently.

Democrats have criticized Republicans for linking Riley's death to Biden's handling of the border, arguing that the problems of migration and criminal activity should not be conflated.

A series of Cato Institute papers have discovered that immigrants-- including undocumented immigrants-- dedicate murders at a lower rate than native-born Americans.

Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) stated a "sense of outrage" is regular following violent criminal activity, but it should not alter more comprehensive policy.

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" I think the crucial thing to focus on is any one circumstances shouldn't shape our overall immigration policy, which has numerous various elements, consisting of economic options about what workers to permit and how to develop prosperity in America," she stated during an interview on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" on Monday.

The White House and Democrats likewise have actually been blistering in criticizing Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other Republicans for turning down a bipartisan Senate expense targeted at tightening border security.

Republicans opposed to that compromise argued it didn't go far enough, but the White House is leaning into the argument that Trump and the GOP, by politicizing the border bill, have actually avoided the federal government from taking steps to tighten up security at the border.

Trump and Republicans see a political benefit in highlighting Riley's death as emblematic of what they see as turmoil at the border.

Both Trump and Biden visited spots on the border on Thursday, however the previous president kept in mind that he called Riley's moms and dads the day before and directly blamed Biden for Ibarra getting in the nation.

" I spoke with her parents yesterday. They're unbelievable individuals that are ravaged beyond belief," he said.

Various GOP authorities, from allies of Trump such as Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) to GOP authorities who have actually clashed with the former president, such as Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, have linked the trainee's death to migration policies they say are too lenient.

Kemp, who had a falling out with Trump over the governor's opposition to overturning the outcomes of the 2020 election in the state, argued that the country has a "problem" with "mass migration."

" That is untenable in any absence of any genuine effort by the Biden administration to step up and resolve this crisis, as they continue to overlook the calls for meaningful policy change that governors like me had actually produced well over two years," he said.

The Georgia case gives Trump a dramatic story to indicate, even as the investigation into precisely what occurred continues.

" Any time that you can put a face, especially a kid or a young person's face, and connect it to a policy, whether it's bad or great, it's going to have a much more outsized effect," said Georgia-based Republican strategist Jay Williams. "And the more personal you can make it, the more efficient it becomes."

GOP strategist Brady Smith said the event will make for an "exceptionally effective" attack for Republicans.

" It's going to be that inflection point where this is going to be the one that specifically sticks out, and whatever else is going to harken back to Laken Riley," he said.

Surveys have actually revealed migration surpassing the economy as the leading problem on voters' minds. A Gallup survey released Tuesday revealed it ranked as crucial for the very first time given that 2019.

Biden is looking for to go on offense himself on the border. It's one reason he went to the verge on Thursday, and it's reflected in the White House attacks on Johnson over the border bill.

A senior Democratic operative argued that the assertion Biden is to blame for the killing is an "absurdity." This operative said Kemp is more accountable for the event as the guv overseeing individuals of the state.

" I didn't understand Joe Biden was a beat police in Athens, Ga.," the operative stated. "Why is it that anytime anything occurs with illegal immigrants that they have no responsibility? Why is it that they have no responsibility for criminal offense?"

Republicans have often argued that permitting migrants to continue across the border only increases the possibilities of criminal offense or possibly an attack on U.S. soil.

Numerous research studies have actually found those who go into the nation unlawfully are not more most likely to commit other crimes than U.S. residents.

Because that company keeps track of immigration status for people jailed and founded guilty of crimes in the state, Cato examined Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) figures. DPS's figures from 2015 to 2019 regularly show a lower murder rate among undocumented immigrants.

"Few people are killers, and prohibited immigrants are statistically less most likely to be murderers. Still, some prohibited immigrants do commit homicide, and that statistical reality is no convenience to victims and their households. Nobody needs to expect the data to comfort individuals affected by violent criminal activity," wrote Alex Nowrasteh, author of the Cato documents.

Williams, the GOP strategist, said the specific details of the case even more add to Republicans' argument, given that Ibarra was previously apprehended in New York City a couple of months earlier.

ICE has actually stated Ibarra was charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and an automobile license offense, however New York authorities released him before migration authorities might detain him.

Democrats have pointed to Rep. Tom Suozzi's success in the unique election for New York's 3rd congressional district last month as an example of how they can still win races that are connected to the concern of immigration.

Suozzi flipped a seat for Democrats this month following an effective project in which he made his position on immigration clear and challenged his Republican challenger for her opposition to the bipartisan Senate border bill that Trump also opposed.

"We need to do what Tom Suozzi did, which is to deal with the problem head on," the operative said.

Brett Samuels contributed.