In Clark County, Georgia, Sheriff John Q. Williams (D), who represents the city of Athens where 22-year-old Laken Riley was allegedly killed by an illegal alien, said that criminal illegal aliens should be taken to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). He said he was opposed to handing over the boy to ICE. The practice, he claimed, fostered a “culture of fear” and ordered their deportation.
On February 23, Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela, kidnapped and murdered Laken Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University, who had gone for a morning jog around the University of Georgia campus in Athens the previous day. was indicted for the crime.
Ybarra, who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in September 2022 and was quickly released into the U.S. interior, was arrested on shoplifting charges in Athens in October 2023, but was not turned over to ICE agents. Because he failed to appear in court, a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Williams, who ran for Clark County Sheriff in 2020 and won, told Athens Politics Otaku at the time that he was opposed to cooperating with ICE. Federal agencies often hand over illegal aliens arrested for crimes to local law enforcement so they can be detained and deported from the United States.
“My intent as elected sheriff is not to work with these detainees,” Williams said of illegal aliens wanted by authorities after being arrested on local charges. In response to a question about ICE detainers being issued, he said:
We can’t help the culture of fear in our community And the fact is, a lot of law enforcement is based on community support, so we’re counting on the public to respond and help us when the situation calls for it… If we’re hostile to people because they’re undocumented or undocumented, then we’re instilling that fear in them. And they are less likely to come to us when we need their help, as well as when they need our help. [Emphasis added]
that’s not what we dowe do not do any kind of aggregation. [and] We are not going to be part of a culture of fear. [Emphasis added]
“What do you think we’ll learn from the open records request that asked Athens-Clarke County Sheriff John Williams how many cases?” [ICE] Did you not comply with the detainee’s demands? ” Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) wrote on Twitter.
What do you think we’ll learn from the public records request that asked Athens-Clarke County Sheriff John Williams how many cases? @ICEgov Did you not comply with the detainee’s demands?
— Congressman Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) February 29, 2024
Before arriving in Athens, Ibarra was protected from deportation thanks to New York state’s sanctuary state policy.
Ybarra was arrested in New York City in August 2023 and charged with injury to a child under 17 and motor vehicle traffic violation. Sanctuary state law guaranteed that Mr. Ybarra would be released from prison before ICE agents could claim his custody.
Had Riley been turned over to ICE agents, it is almost certain that he would not have been in Athens months later during his morning jog on February 22nd.
Ibarra’s brother, 29-year-old illegal alien Diego Ibarra, also crossed the border in April 2023, was released into the interior of the United States, and headed for New York City.
However, in September 2023, Diego Ibarra was arrested in Athens for drunk driving and driving without a license. He was arrested again in October 2023 for shoplifting and in December 2023 for failure to appear in court.
After these arrests, ICE agents issued Diego Ybarra’s detainees sought his custody, but Clark County authorities did not respect them and released him into the community each time.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Please email jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
