CLARKE COUNTY, Ga. — Immigration advocates are asking for tolerance and grace for their community after Jose Ibarra’s conviction for Laken Riley’s murder.
“We should not be blaming all immigrants for one bad actor immigrant,” immigration attorney Joshua McCall told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Ibarra was found guilty of the nursing student’s murder while she jogged on the University of Georgia campus in February. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
Because Ibarra, who is originally from Venezuela, entered the country illegally, the case sparked a political firestorm about immigration reform.
McCall said that immediately after the crime happened, some of his clients and staff members were harassed.
“Threatening people of color, threatening Hispanic people, referencing this case,” said McCall.
In a statement shared on Wednesday, Governor Brian Kemp wrote in part:
“This criminal should never have been allowed to enter our country, and he certainly should not have been allowed to stay after shamelessly breaking our laws.”
RELATED STORIES:
- Laken Riley murder: Jose Ibarra found guilty, sentenced to life in prison without parole
- Laken Riley murder: Who was Laken Riley, nursing student killed on UGA campus?
- Laken Riley murder: How nursing student’s killing became the center of the political universe
McCall said while he is relieved Ibarra is off the streets and he grieves along with Riley’s family, he said he doesn’t want others who happen to look like Ibarra to also suffer.
“These Venezuelan families who come here, they fill out all the paperwork, do the right things. Just because they share a trait with this man, their lives are being placed in danger and that’s not what we want to take away from this horrible tragedy,” said McCall.
In March, the House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act, which focuses on undocumented immigrants who commit crimes.
According to a 2023 Stanford University Institute for Economic Policy Research study, immigrants are 30% less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born individuals.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2024 Cox Media Group
