ATHENS, Ga. — It's been two weeks since Laken Riley was brutally attacked and killed while out on a jog near the Oconee Park Forest on the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens.
Her accused killer, Jose Ibarra, was arrested one day after the attack at his apartment. The complex sits just a few hundred yards away from the forest where police said he drug Riley's body after attacking her on the running trail.
Shortly after his arrest, Ibarra was discovered in the country without proper documentation. Originally from Venezuela, authorities said he illegally crossed the border into the United States in 2022. Ibarra is currently locked up, charged with murder at the Athens-Clarke County Jail. He is being held without bond. On Thursday, 11Alive confirmed with the Superior Clerk of Courts that Ibarra has no upcoming hearings in the near future.
As he sits behind bars while his case moves through the judicial system, outside the courtroom this case is being used in political arenas when it comes to immigration and the southern border.
For example, the U.S. House passed a resolution centering on Riley's death on Thursday. It was introduced by Georgia Rep. Mike Collins, whose district includes Athens. The resolution passed 251-170, with 11 members not voting. The Republican-sponsored resolution received support from 37 Democrats. However, all five Georgia Democrats in the House voted against it.
The Laken Riley Act now heads to a Democratic-controlled Senate where its future is uncertain.
11Alive spoke to Rep. Collins on Thursday afternoon. He was in the nation's capital ahead of the President's State of the Union address.
"When you have 37 Democrats, join with 100% of the Republicans in the House, that sends a statement that's not a partisan vote, that is bipartisan," Rep. Collins said.
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He added, "We want to make sure the Senate understands if you don't want to take it up, you need to explain that to the American people because this is good legislation. It will help our law enforcement out there."
Some argued that the resolution is not good legislation and that more people need to be involved in drafting such a bill.
"We think this is the wrong answer to a very real problem; unfortunately, some of the more radical voices in our state and country and politicians are choosing to exploit the death of a young woman in our community to attack other members of our community," Kyle Gomez-Leineweber, of GALEO, said.
GALEO contributions are involved in increasing civic participation of the Latinx community and developing prominent Latino leaders throughout Georgia. The organization advocates for immigration reform and voting rights while upholding its core values of advocacy, inclusion, non-partisan, diversity and responsiveness.
Gomez-Leineweber also said the country's immigration system needs an overhaul.
"I don't think you'll find anyone in this country who doesn't think that our immigration system is broken, and it needs fixing, and it needs people from all walks of life to come together, and find solutions that are workable," he explained.
On Thursday, Rep. Collins also posted on social media two billboards he is behind that he said will be going up ahead of President Biden's visit to Atlanta on Saturday.
One of the billboards has both Riley and her accused killer's pictures on the billboard with the words, "JOE BIDEN PUT HIM FIRST, NOT HER." At the bottom of the billboard states, "paid for by Collins for Congress."
11Alive asked the representative if he asked permission to use Riley's picture in such a way.
"We haven't done anything without the family's approval, to begin with," Rep. Collins said.
Rep. Collins also invited Riley's parents to the State of the Union on Thursday night. He didn't say he personally asked them but said his office did extend an invitation to her parents.
"We would love to have them, and I know they're not up for coming to it tonight, but that's okay. We'll have an empty chair there for them," he said.
On Thursday night at the State of the Union, several Republicans wore pins with Riley's picture on them, shirts that said "Say Her Name," and even Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene confronted the president as he walked into the chamber saying to him, "Say Her Name."
The chant is typically reserved for Black women who are victims of police brutality, launched in December 2014 by the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) and the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies (CISPS).
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In addition, when President Biden began talking about immigration issues at the southern border, Greene shouted Riley's name again from the audience.
Biden then reached down and trapped the pin that Greene had given him and addressed the topic of her murder.
"Laken Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal," Biden said. "But how many... thousands of people are being killed by illegals. To her parents, I say my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself. I understand."
In general, there have been some who said politicians are exploiting the murder of Laken Riley, turning it into a political statement.
11Alive has previously reported that Latinx individuals have said Ibarra's arrest has fostered charged conversations about immigration, and they've said they've been caught in the middle of hateful rhetoric. They said that one Venezuelan man does not represent the entire Hispanic community and that there should be unification during times of tragedy.
Rep. Collins said that the murder is vastly intertwined with politics.
"Well, you know, politics is what led to the brutal murder of this young lady. Politics, the policies that were not enacted down there on that border. The fact that the Senate is not taking that they are to the fact that Joe Biden and the Biden administration rescinded eight critical executive orders that the Trump administration put into place, has allowed these people to cross our borders wherever they feel like it," Rep. Collins said.
He added, "The way we fix it is we start to fix it up here in Congress."