Joe Biden Confronted Over Laken Riley's Death During Border Visit

President Joe Biden was confronted over the recent killing of Augusta University College of Nursing student Laken Riley during a press conference at the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas on Thursday.

Shortly after Biden concluded his speech, in which he urged former President Donald Trump to "join" him in backing the bipartisan border security bill that failed in Congress earlier this month, an unidentified person asked him if he carried any "responsibility" for Riley's death.

"Mr. President, do you bear any responsibility for Laken Riley's death?" the person shouted as Biden walked away from the podium. It was unclear whether the president heard the question.

The Context

The body of Riley, 22, was discovered last week in a wooded area in Athens, Georgia. Police arrested 26-year-old Venezuelan migrant Jose Antonio Ibarra one day after the discovery on charges of murder and several other felony counts.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) later said that Ibarra had illegally entered the country at a crossing near El Paso in September 2022, a revelation that immediately prompted supporters of former President Donald Trump to call for Ibarra's execution and claim that Biden's border policies were to blame for Riley's death.

What We Know

After Biden concluded his speech on border security in Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday, a person in the audience could be heard briefly shouting "to hold you responsible" as the president walked away from the podium with his back turned amid a smattering of applause.

The same voice then shouted the question about whether Biden had "any responsibility for Laken Riley's death." The president did not respond to the question and continued walking out of the room.

Former Trump adviser and Fox News personality Steve Cortes claimed in a post to X, formerly Twitter, that the voice belonged to Fox News correspondent Griff Jenkins.

Newsweek reached out for comment to the White House via email on Thursday.

Views

Republican Representative Mike Collins of Georgia claimed in a post to X on Saturday that "the blood of Laken Riley is on the hands of Joe Biden" and members of his administration, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Trump has also suggested that Biden is to blame, while Steven Cheung, the ex-president's spokesperson, said the following in a statement emailed to Newsweek on Thursday: "Crooked Joe Biden has blood on his hands as his Biden Migrant Crisis has led to deaths, assaults, and destruction in communities across America."

However, A.J. Delgado, a former Trump 2016 campaign aide, claimed in a series of posts to X on Saturday that the former president's immigration policies might have played a bigger role in Ibarra illegally entering the country than Biden's.

Delgado argued that the Deferred Enforced Departure program (DED), which Trump signed in January 2021, created a "special category" that made it "enticing for Venezuelans to make their way to America [often via the southern border]."

"You're going to see a lot of #MAGA folks on here, who are claiming that #Biden has 'blood on his hands' due to the suspect in the Atlanta-nursing-student's murder being an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who reportedly arrived in 2022," Delgado wrote. "Except ... #whoops: It seems *TRUMP* is the one to blame, if anyone is other than, you know, the murderer."

Under the DED program, the U.S. deferred the removal of certain Venezuelan nationals in the U.S. for 18 months, while also allowing them to work during that time. Trump wrote that the "deteriorative condition within Venezuela" warranted the delay in a memo issued just before he left office.

What's Next?

Ibarra was charged with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another. He is being held in Athens-Clarke County jail.

Riley's death and the broad issue of immigration will likely continue to be a staple in U.S. political discourse as the November presidential election approaches. Republicans argue that Biden's policies have caused illegal crossings to spiral out of control and claim that a migrant-led crime wave has followed, despite evidence showing that undocumented migrants have lower crime rates than native-born citizens and legal immigrants.

Democrats have accused Trump of attempting to worsen the situation for his own political benefit, pointing out that the former president demanded that Republicans block the bipartisan border security bill earlier this month because it would be "a great gift to the Democrats."