In a Sunday interview, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas denied a link between the murder of nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia (UGA) campus and illegal immigration despite police charging a man who immigrated illegally from Venezuela with the killing.
Asked if there was a breakdown in the federal immigration system that allowed Venezuelan illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra to allegedly murder Riley, Mayorkas on Face the Nation cited his experience as a prosecutor and declared, “one individual is responsible for the murder and that is the murderer.”
Mayorkas, however, conceded that federal immigration agencies receive “varying degrees of cooperation” from “cities around the country,” but claimed the DHS works “very closely with state and local law enforcement to ensure that individuals who pose a threat to public safety are, indeed, our highest priority for detention and removal.”
The secretary also stated the Biden administration is opposed to policies which are frequently considered the prerequisite for a municipality to be called a sanctuary city for illegal immigration.
“We firmly believe that if a city is aware of an individual who poses a threat to public safety then we would request that they provide us with that information so we can ensure that individual is detained if the facts warrant it,” Mayorkas told host Margaret Brennan.
Biden DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas reads directly from his notes in response to the murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley by an illegal alien — but refuses to admit the murderer should never have been here in the first place. pic.twitter.com/xPqDcfG5Ct
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 3, 2024
The Biden administration has previously urged cities to end sanctuary city policies that became common to resist immigration polices imposed under the Trump administration, with Mayorkas insisting in 2022 that the agency could be trusted to gently process illegal immigrants.
Just four days ago, the White House renewed its call for sanctuary cities to begin cooperating with Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) in a bid to address the crisis at the southern border.
Mayorkas made the remarks on Face the Nation only days after Republicans in the U.S. Senate demanded an impeachment trial be held against the secretary.
Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO), in a letter sent to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) last week, urged the Republican leader to “fully engage our constitutional duty and hold a trial” to determine whether Mayorkas should be removed from office.
The effort to start a trial in the Senate also has the support of Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who said Mayorkas has “aided and abetted and facilitated a criminal invasion” of the United States while leading the DHS.
Mayorkas was successfully impeached by Republicans last month in the House, marking the first time a cabinet secretary has been impeached in the country’s history.
While both Athens, Georgia and the Clarke County Sheriff’s Department deny having sanctuary city policies, Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz faced calls for his resignation after he invoked Trump to explain why he celebrated such policies in a 2019 video.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Alejandro Mayorkas” By Alejandro Mayorkas. Photo “Illeagal Immigrants” By John R. Modlin.
