Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., posted to social media that the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to him that Laken Riley’s alleged murderer was paroled into the U.S. illegally because the Central Processing Center in El Paso, Texas, was capped.
Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan illegal immigrant, has been charged in connection with the murder of Riley. The 22-year-old Augusta University nursing school student was killed Feb. 22, while jogging at the University of Georgia in Athens.
U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed with Fox News Digital previously that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered Ibarra on Sept. 8, 2022, and he was “paroled and released for further processing.”
Now, Graham has found out more about Ibarra’s release.
“DHS just confirmed to me that the man charged with Laken Riley’s murder was paroled into the U.S. illegally, ‘due to detention capacity at the Central Processing Center in El Paso, Texas,’” Graham posted to X on Tuesday. “He wasn’t granted parole because he provided a significant benefit to the country or that he had a humanitarian need, as the law requires.”
Graham also accused the Biden administration of breaking the law at the expense of innocent Americans.
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The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital seeking additional information about the claim.
ICE previously stated that Ibarra had been arrested by the New York Police Department a year after being paroled, on Sept. 14, 2023, and “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.” The agency later corrected the record saying he was arrested on Aug 31, 2023.
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Riley was found dead in February after previously attending UGA before entering a nursing program at Augusta’s Athens campus, where she made the dean’s list.
Police have charged Ibarra with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call and concealing the death of another person.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw and Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
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