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As the nation anticipates a leadership change in January, mainstream media outlets are likely to embark on efforts to portray President Biden’s tenure favorably for historical records. They may emphasize his supposed good intentions, the challenges he inherited, and frame his leadership during turbulent times in a positive light.

However, this narrative distorts reality, particularly when considering the case of Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant convicted of murdering Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia. His case exemplifies the devastating consequences of Biden’s immigration policies.

Ibarra, 26, came from Venezuela and belonged to the Tren de Aragua gang. He crossed the southern border illegally near El Paso in September 2022. Despite being apprehended, Border Patrol released him under Biden’s catch-and-release directive.

After relocating to New York City’s Roosevelt Hotel migrant shelter, Ibarra faced arrest on charges involving a minor and a vehicle license violation, as reported by ICE officials. New York’s sanctuary policies prevented ICE from detaining him for possible deportation.

Subsequently, Ibarra traveled to Atlanta using federal funds provided by the Biden-Harris administration. In Athens, Georgia, he missed a court appearance for shoplifting in December 2023, yet remained free, ultimately leading to Riley’s tragic murder in February.

This sequence of events reveals numerous missed opportunities to prevent Riley’s death and highlights the flaws in Biden’s immigration approach. His day-one executive orders stopping border wall construction and implementing catch-and-release created an environment where dangerous individuals could enter and remain in the country. Federal funding for migrant shelters in New York hotels even facilitated their movement across states.

Earlier offenses should have triggered Ibarra’s deportation proceedings. However, New York’s sanctuary policies, endorsed by Biden’s administration, hindered ICE’s efforts. While Athens’ Clarke County isn’t officially a sanctuary jurisdiction, Mayor Kelly Girtz’s policies effectively made it one. This chain of misguided open-border policies resulted in a preventable tragedy.

During a 2019 Democratic primary debate, Biden explicitly encouraged migrants to “surge the border.” This wasn’t merely campaign rhetoric; it served as an invitation that prompted massive illegal border crossings.

The administration’s inaction wasn’t accidental. Harris’s presidential campaign faced tough questions about why she promoted strict border measures while failing to implement them during her vice presidency when illegal crossings surged. The border crisis was deliberately engineered.

Without Biden’s experimental border policies, Riley would likely be alive today, as would Jocelyn Nungaray, Rachel Morin, and others killed by illegal immigrants. Instead of addressing these security concerns, Biden dismissed critics as racist xenophobes.

Rather than accepting revisionist narratives about Biden’s presidency, history should remember the contrasting images of Ibarra’s mugshot and Riley’s grieving family – a permanent reminder of his administration’s devastating legacy.