Former President Bill Clinton said Monday that Laken Riley would “probably” still be alive if the Biden-Harris administration had done a better job of vetting the illegal immigrant accused of killing her.
Campaigning on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris, Mr. Clinton created more problems for the Democrat by saying the man charged with the slaying, Jose Ibarra, should not have been able to slip through the cracks.
“Well, if they all had been properly vetted, that probably would not have happened,” Mr. Clinton said at a campaign stop in Georgia.
Mr. Clinton added that the nation needs properly vetted immigrants to help increase the nation’s declining birth rate and fill jobs that Americans will not do.
Mr. Ibarra is charged with killing Riley. The indictment against him said he hit the 22-year-old Augusta University College of Nursing student in the head with the intent of sexually assaulting her.
He has pleaded not guilty.
The case has become a flashpoint in the presidential race because Mr. Ibarra was caught and released under the Biden-Harris administration’s relaxed approach to the border.
Immigration and border security are top priorities for voters and a central part of former President Donald Trump’s argument for returning to office.
The Trump campaign pounced on Mr. Clinton’s remarks, saying he “correctly blamed Kamala Harris’ failed border policies for the tragic death of Laken Riley.”
Ms. Harris deployed Mr. Clinton to Georgia to energize voters in the more rural parts of the state who remain nostalgic about the Clinton years.
Mr. Clinton was speaking in part from experience.
In 1996, he signed a strict immigration law that created a new set of stiff penalties for those who jumped the border.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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