Athens, Georgia, Democratic Mayor Kelly Girtz is facing a local recall effort against him after the murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley took place in the city in February.
“Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz is asking the county’s Superior Court to order the suspension of a recall effort against him until the court reviews the proceedings thus far in the initiative,” the Athens Banner-Herald reported.
“In a petition filed Wednesday, Girtz asks that the court’s review include an examination of the sufficiency, or lack thereof, of the grounds stated for the recall effort. Girtz also asks that the court review the facts, if any, upon which the grounds in the Application (for recall) are based,” the outlet continued.
The Democrat also reportedly contends county elections officials have mishandled the recall effort and violated provisions of the state Recall Act.
Emails from Girtz also revealed that in the weeks following Riley’s murder, the was defending sanctuary city policies where illegal aliens are not turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after committing serious offenses.
“I support the detainer policy as one that is both humane and following the well-documented propensity of immigrants in the U.S. to be less criminally inclined than the native-born population,” Girtz wrote in an email.
The House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act last month, a bill that would require federal immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants charged with local theft or burglary.
The act, which was passed by a 251-170 vote, is named after 22-year-old Laken Riley, a college nursing student who was recently killed on the campus of the University of Georgia.
“The senseless murder of Laken Riley by Jose Ibarra, who had no business being in this country, was another wake-up call as Americans experience an illegal alien crime wave because of Joe Biden’s open border and local sanctuary city policies,” Rep. Mike Collins, (R-GA), who introduced the bill said.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, the illegal immigrant from Venezuela charged with the brutal murder, was arrested in New York prior to the murder, but was not detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).