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Laken Riley's murder shows Trump must change border policy

Nicole Russell   Paste BN

I’m a woman and a mother of two daughters. As such, the tragic story of Laken Riley’s murder has touched me. My heart goes out to Riley’s family. 

On Wednesday, Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal migrant, was found guilty of murdering Riley, 22, a Georgia nursing student, while she was on a morning run in February.  

During the trial, text messages and smart watch data played a key role in piecing together the prosecutor’s case to demonstrate that Ibarra was guilty.  

Riley stopped running at 9:10 a.m. the day of her murder; she tried to call 911 one minute later, and her heartbeat dropped to zero at 9:28 a.m.  

Riley had texted her mother, Allyson Phillips, before her run, but the two hadn’t connected.  

"You're making me nervous not answering while you're out running. Are you OK?" Phillips texted Riley nearly 40 minutes after Ibarra attacked her.  

As a woman, I can’t imagine the fear Riley felt being attacked while exercising. I worry about my own daughters’ safety too.  

As a mom, I cannot imagine what Phillips went through as a parent’s worst nightmare was realized.  

Riley’s murder has become a flashpoint in the debate over immigration and border security. Rightly so. Both President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump have spoken publicly about her.  

Sometimes it’s hard to talk about real news, particularly the murder of a young woman, without making a specific event feel like it’s being "politicized" or is propaganda. I am not trying to do that here. 

Riley’s murder illustrates a real fear that many women have in this country, which is that they will be attacked, raped or murdered while doing the things they love.

Riley’s murder also put a young, innocent face to the need for the U.S. to take border security issues more seriously – Ibarra is a Venezuelan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally in 2022.

While the left likes to say that statistics show the migrant crime rate is no worse than crimes committed by U.S. citizens, that argument misses the point: Crimes committed by people in the country illegally are crimes that should never have happened because the criminals shouldn’t be in the United States. 

One of the first things Trump can do in office is secure the border and begin to untangle our messy immigration process. Trump can implement previous policies – like Title 42 and "Remain in Mexico" – to quell the surge of migrants who have crossed the border since Biden took office.  

Nothing will bring Laken Riley back, but changes in policy might protect others from violence in the future.  

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