Laken Riley Act Passes U.S. House After GA Student's Death

ATLANTA, GA — Federal lawmakers have approved a bill that would put a new requirement on the Secretary of Homeland Security's office after authorities said a Georgia student was recently killed by a non-U.S. citizen.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed Thursday the House Resolution 7511, also known as the Laken Riley Act, with 37 Democrats supporting the Republican-backed bill, Georgia Rep. Mike Collins announced on Facebook.

If it becomes law, H.R. 7511 would "require the Secretary of Homeland Security to take into custody aliens who have been charged in the United States with theft," the bill stated.

Collins, R-GA, the bill's sponsor, said in a Tuesday Facebook post that a key part of the Laken Riley Act lies in the notion that state attorney generals would be allowed to sue the Office of Homeland Security "for injunctive relief if immigration policy failures harm that state or its citizens."

In a post Wednesday, Collins noted, "The Laken Riley Act will ensure that tragedies like this cannot happen again." He said his invite to Riley's family to attend Thursday's State of the Union address was declined as they mourn her death.

H.R. 7511 was introduced into the U.S. House on Tuesday and comes after authorities said 22-year-old Laken Riley died of blunt force trauma at the hands of a 26-year-old Venezuelan citizen on Feb. 22 at the University of Georgia's intramural fields.

Riley was a student at the College of Nursing campus at Athens. She had gone for an early morning jog, and when she did not return home, a friend reported her missing.

RELATED: Foul Play Suspected In Woman's Death At UGA's Intramural Fields

Authorities previously identified the suspect as Jose Ibarra, who was accused of disfiguring Riley's skull before reportedly dragging her to a secluded area in efforts to conceal her death.

Ibarra was charged on suspicion of the following:

• Failure to appear for finger-printable charge
• Concealing the death of another person
• Kidnapping
• Obstructing/hindering a person from making an emergency telephone call
• False imprisonment
• Aggravated assault
• Aggravated battery
• Two counts of second-degree malice murder

RELATED: UGA Death: Suspect Accused Of 'Disfiguring' GA Student's Skull: Report

Georgia Lawmakers Call for Action

Collins, GA-10, announced Thursday on Facebook that a voting would take place.

Collins in a Feb. 23 Facebook post said that the "blood of Laken Riley is on the hands of" Biden, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the Athens-Clarke County government.

On Feb. 27, Collins said he planned to send Clarke County leaders a letter requesting the reversal of the county's sanctuary policies. However, Athens-Clarke officials said policies establishing Athens as a sanctuary city have not been adopted by the mayor or commission.

"I am asking for as many elected officials in GA, regardless of party, who agree a change in policy would be both prudent and safer for all of our constituents who live, work or attend university in Clarke County to sign on," he said in a past Facebook post. "If you're an office holder and would be willing to join, please contact me directly or my staff. If you're a citizen and would like your sheriff, legislator or congressman, etc, to join, let them know. I'll be sure to post the final version with all signers for transparency."

With Athens reportedly being a sanctuary city, the nation's immigration policies have come into question.

Shortly after Riley's death, Gov. Brian Kemp sent a letter to President Joe Biden in a demand for answers.

RELATED: After GA Student's Death, Kemp Wants Answers From Biden Administration

"This past September, I joined 24 governors in writing you a letter requesting 'accurate, detailed, thorough data and information' regarding all illegal border crossings, relocation efforts and how asylum claims were being processed. This followed another letter from the nation's governors laying out actions you could carry out today to begin securing the border and restricting the flow of illegal crossings into our country," Kemp said in the Feb. 24 letter.

"Frankly, Mr. President, your continued silence in response to these reasonable requests is outrageous. The American people deserve to know who is illegally entering our country due to your administration's failures, and what risks and challenges every state must now face."

Athens-Clarke County Officials Respond

Among protesters calling for his resignation, Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz shared the unified government's public safety initiatives at a Feb. 28 press conference.

The initiatives include the advancement of a Real Time Crime Center, as well as the use of: mobile closed-circuit television surveillance trailers, all-terrain vehicles for police to use on the expanding Athens-Clarke County trail system and camera arrays in high traffic and high crime areas.

"We are all grieving the loss of Laken Riley, just as we've grieved so many tragedies over the years in Athens," Girtz said. "Each one of these is a reminder of our collective failure to be where we wish to be as a community and a society. Our anger at these murders and other criminal activities will drive us to continue to improve our community safety as we've been pursuing for so many years. I empathize with the frustration and anger so many are feeling right now."

Girtz later addressed the sentiment that Athens is a sanctuary city.

"We contribute a document to the Georgia Department of Audits annually indicating that we do not correspond to these definitions under state law," he said. "There is no legislation from this government that has created sanctuary city status."

Ibarra's 29-year-old brother, Diego, was arrested the same day as Ibarra and was held for immigration, past jail records showed.

Diego has been arrested multiple times since September on various charges including shoplifting and driving under the influence, Kemp said in his letter to Biden, citing justice officials. Kemp said he was released while his asylum papers were being processed.

The Clarke County Sheriff's Office took to Facebook on Thursday to clarify its procedures for processing undocumented inmates, protocols the department said were reviewed and updated in 2018. In the post, the sheriff's office said it is not a "full-service law enforcement agency."

"These updates to the policy were the result of public input, review of best practices, relevant case-law and input from legal counsel. Based on the totality of circumstances at that time, the policy was changed to decline requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold inmates, known as 'detainers,' that are not signed by a judge. The law requires us to notify ICE whenever we book someone either known or suspected to be a foreign national. Our policy reflects that. ICE detainers are requests, not a court order or warrant. Holding a person based solely on an ICE detainer constitutes a warrantless arrest. The policy does allow for detaining if a warrant or court order signed by a judge is issued. Whenever ICE is able to pick up an undocumented person before the time they would have been able to bond out or otherwise be lawfully released, the sheriff’s office does not prevent them from doing so. When Sheriff (John Q.) Williams took office in 2021, we maintained this policy," authorities said in the post.

"In the case of murder suspect, Jose Ibarra, he had never been arrested in Clarke County or the state of Georgia. At no time was Jose Ibarra detained by CCSO before his arrest for the murder of Laken Riley. The sheriff’s office’s first contact with him was when he was charged with the murder and he is currently confined and held with no bail."

Furthermore, authorities said Riley's death drew attention to some of its record keeping practices that needed to be improved - practices "to help identify and track our responses to any interactions with subjects determined to be undocumented."

The department said it is strengthening its policy and will continue upholding all laws.

"We would like to reaffirm to the people who live, work and contribute to Athens-Clarke County that we care about your safety and this is our main priority. Our office is committed to our mission to serve our community through intentional engagement, access and transparency. We are dedicated to conducting ourselves in a manner respectful of the trust that has been placed upon us. We strive to actively enforce the laws of our state and to safely operate our detention facilities through progressive, innovative and humane practices aimed towards rehabilitating those in custody through non-conventional methods and returning citizens back into our community with hope and a chance for a successful future. We are dedicated to this mission and to the people we serve to ensure that Clarke County is a safe place to live, work and visit," authorities said.