Sen. LaFonza Butler, D-Calif., said Friday it was “unfortunate” that President Joe Biden described the alleged killer of nursing student Laken Riley as “unlawful.”
Jose Antonio Ibarra, who is accused of killing Riley, was a Venezuelan immigrant who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and was arrested by University of Georgia police on February 23, killing a 22-year-old nursing student. He was charged with murder. Biden mentioned the incident in a speech Thursday. State of the Union address after a confrontation with Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene that ultimately killed Riley's name. (Related: Democratic lawmaker says “one example” of murder “should not shape” U.S. immigration policy after nursing student's murder)
“When I was in the chamber last night, it was clear that there are extreme people in the Republican Party who are trying to trick the president into responding to their hecklers,” Butler said on “Inside Politics” host Dana. -Told Basch. “It's unfortunate that the president used those words, words that he believes in his heart about immigrants who came to this country to build a better life for themselves and his family. I don’t think it’s anything like that.”
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Many Democrats criticized Biden for using the word “illegal,” and some left-wing Democrats accused the president of aligning himself with Trump.
“There were many good points in President Biden's speech tonight, but his comments on immigration were inflammatory and wrong,” said Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas. Posted X, add second post“My guest at this year's State of the Union address was the widow of a North Texas rancher who was murdered by a neighbor who didn't want a Latino living next door.'' We can tell similar stories of hate and harassment inspired by Trump's rhetoric.”
“The rhetoric President Biden used tonight was dangerously close to the language of Donald Trump, who targets the backs of Latinos around the world,” Castro continued for a third time. post. “Democrats should not take cues from MAGA extremism.”
Butler took a less confrontational tone regarding Biden's comments.
“If you recall, right after that he told us the truth about Joe Biden. He gave us exactly the empathy and warmth that we know to be true. That's why his words… I think it's unfortunate that he fell into the trap again, but I think he's pivoted really well and told us exactly what he believes in and what he's offering the country. He showed me. “That's a completely different position than her predecessor,” she said.
Biden reversed several border policies initiated by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, on his first day in office.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) report Since the start of fiscal year 2021, there have been more than 6.6 million encounters with illegal immigrants, including more than 2.2 million in fiscal year 2022.
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