WASHINGTON: Top US congressional Republican on Sunday sought an apology from President Joe Biden over the murder of an American student for which an illegal migrant was apprehended.
House speaker Mike Johnson in a post on X, formerly Twitter said the alleged killer is an illegal immigrant who brutally assassinated Laken Riley.
Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was assaulted late last month while on a morning walk in a wooded area at the University of Georgia in Athens.
A migrant from Venezuela has been charged with murder and adduction. He had been stopped by police least three times but each time was released due to lack of evidence.
Republicans led by former president Donald Trump say that Riley’s killing is the outcome of lax border enforcement by Biden.
Biden supports a reform package focused at tightening border security a package discussed at length by members of both parties but blocked ultimately by Republicans who say it has little that Biden could not have done on his own.
According to Democrats there was Republican support for the bill until Trump announced his opposition. They say he was trying to have a major political victory on his rival by using a sensitive subject as they both campaign for president.
The bill would have restricted claims of asylums, hiring of more border police, and allowed the president to close the border if more than 5,000 migrants a day tried to cross illegally in a week.
According to official data border police registered 302,000 interceptions of illegal migrants coming from Mexico in December, though the number decreased sharply to 176,000 in January.
