The killing of a student puts immigration at the center of the presidential campaign

The leader of the Republican deputies demanded an “apology” from Joe Biden this Sunday. The reason? He accused him of taking responsibility for the murder of an American student, for which an illegal Venezuelan was arrested. The 81-year-old Democrat “condemns himself to his base and shows respect to a man who does not deserve it. This man is an illegal immigrant who brutally murdered Laken Riley,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X (Twitter) on Sunday.

A student was killed in February

The 22-year-old nursing student died in February while taking a morning jog in a park at the University of Georgia (Southeast). Police arrested an illegal Venezuelan citizen, charging him with murder and kidnapping.

Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, see this as a result of Joe Biden’s immigration policy, which is considered too lax given the numerous arrivals at the border with Mexico. “Lacon Riley would be alive today if Biden hadn’t deliberately and fraudulently created the borders,” said the 77-year-old businessman, who in a recent speech accused immigrants of “poisoning the blood” of the country.

At the center of the controversy is the term illegal immigrant

On Thursday, Joe Biden briefly met face-to-face with Georgia’s Trumpist elected official, Marjorie Taylor Green. She gave the Democrat a badge bearing the inscription: “Say his name: Laken Riley.” The president, who unless surprisingly will face Donald Trump in the November presidential election, brandished the badge during his speech. “To his parents, I say: My heart goes out to you,” he said. He referred to “Lincoln Riley” with the wrong accent, an innocent young woman killed by an illegal immigrant.

Joe Biden, however, promised — that unlike his rival — he would not “demonize” immigrants. But the use of the word “illegal,” typically used by the right, sparked protests within the Democratic Party itself. “I shouldn’t have talked about illegal immigrants, they’re undocumented,” Joe Biden admitted in an interview on Saturday. MSNBC, comments that reignited the debate with a vengeance.

Reform of immigration policy

Republicans in Congress are blocking a sweeping overhaul of immigration policy sought by Joe Biden, which they describe as the “toughest” in decades. Democrats see in this obstacle the claw of Donald Trump, who does not want to give up a political victory. for his democratic rival on such a sensitive subject.

The text calls for restrictions on the system for processing asylum applications, a break when 5,000 people cross to the south each week, and recruitment for border police. The latter reported nearly 10,000 passages per day at the end of the year, even faster than in previous months.