Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., took to social media to assert that the Department of Homeland Security confirmed to him that the alleged murderer of Laken Riley, Jose Ibarra, was illegally paroled into the U.S. due to detention capacity limitations at the Central Processing Center in El Paso, Texas.
Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, faces charges in the murder of Riley, a 22-year-old nursing school student at Augusta University who was killed while jogging at the University of Georgia in Athens on Feb. 22.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had previously indicated to Fox News Digital that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered Ibarra on Sept. 8, 2022, and he was “paroled and released for further processing.”
Graham shared more details about Ibarra’s release in his social media post on Tuesday. “DHS just confirmed to me that the man charged with Laken Riley’s murder was paroled into the U.S. illegally, ‘due to detention capacity at the Central Processing Center in El Paso, Texas,’” Graham wrote. “He wasn’t granted parole because he provided a significant benefit to the country or that he had a humanitarian need, as the law requires.”
Graham criticized the Biden administration, accusing it of breaking the law at the expense of innocent Americans.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests from Fox News Digital seeking additional information about Graham’s claim.
ICE previously reported that Ibarra was arrested by the New York Police Department on Sept. 14, 2023, and was “charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.” ICE later corrected the record, stating he was arrested on Aug. 31, 2023.
Riley had previously attended the University of Georgia before enrolling in a nursing program at Augusta’s Athens campus, where she made the dean’s list.
Ibarra faces charges including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, false imprisonment, kidnapping, hindering a 911 call, and concealing the death of another person.