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AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Tuesday, U.S. Senators, including John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), sent a letter demanding answers as to why 26-year-old Venezuelan national Jose Antonio Ibarra was allowed to enter and remain in the United States.
Ibarra was charged with the murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley, an Augusta University nursing student.
In the letter sent to U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, senate officials demanded that Mayorkas provide a copy of the case file for Ibarra.
The senate officials also wanted the record showing what “urgent humanitarian reason or significant public benefit justified the decision to grant [Ibarra] parole.”
According to a release, by law, immigration parole was only to be granted at the discretion of DHS on a case-by-case basis in instances of “urgent humanitarian reason or significant public benefit.”
Senate officials expect to receive the records no later than March 8, according to a release.
In addition to Cornyn and Cruz, the letter was also signed by Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Mike Lee (R-UT), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Tom Cotton (R-AR), John Kennedy (R-LA), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
Read the full letter below.
Dear Secretary Mayorkas:
According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Jose Antonio Ibarra, the suspect charged in the murder of Augusta University student Laken Riley, is a Venezuelan national who entered the United States illegally in September 2022 and was subsequently released by the Department of Homeland Security through a grant of parole. We are deeply saddened by this senseless and preventable act of violence, and we write today demanding answers about how Ibarra was allowed to enter and remain in the United States.
Under section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, immigration parole should only be granted on a case-by-case basis, and only if there is an urgent humanitarian reason or significant public benefit justifying a grant of parole. We have previously expressed significant doubts as to how the Department has been able to make hundreds of thousands of case-by-case determinations for parole every year, but you have assured Congress in your sworn prior testimony that the Department makes an individual determination for each individual alien granted parole. Regarding the use of parole, you testified on November 8, 2023, “We make our decision on case-by-case basis.” That must also apply to Ibarra’ s grant of parole.
We demand that you show us your work. No later than March 8th, please provide us with a copy of the case file for Jose Antonio Ibarra, including the record showing what urgent humanitarian reason or significant public benefit justified the decision to grant him parole.