WASHINGTON, D.C. — The parents of a 22-year-old nursing student murdered on the University of Georgia campus have declined Georgia Rep. Mike Collins’ invitation to Thursday’s State of the Union address.
Laken Riley was killed as she ran a trail on campus last month. An undocumented immigrant, Jose Ibarra, was arrested and charged with her murder.
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The congressman had asked her parents to attend President Joe Biden’s annual speech, according to his office.
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Collins said they declined the invitation as they grieve the loss of their daughter.
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Instead, the seat will remain vacant “to honor Americans he could have invited had their lives not been cut short by foreign criminals who had no business being in this country.”
Collins introduced legislation earlier this week that would require ICE to detain illegal immigrants who are charged with theft or burglary. The legislation is called the Laken Riley Act.
Ibarra had been arrested on several previous occasions, including on shoplifting and DUI charges.
“As the president paints a rosy picture of the crime-ridden country he has created, he will see an empty seat in the gallery that memorializes those who are no longer with us because of his open border,” Collins wrote.
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