An overwhelming majority of Hispanic Americans say it is appropriate to call the illegal alien accused of killing 22-year-old Laken Riley an “illegal alien,” as President Joe Biden initially said. This is revealed in a poll conducted by Harvard University and Harris University.
Biden was pressured by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) to mention Laken Riley’s murder during this month’s State of the Union address. Biden ultimately called Jose Antonio Ybarra, the suspect in Riley’s murder, a “lawless offender.”
Biden later appeared to tell MSNBC that he regretted using the word “illegal.”
“Illegal alien, and I shouldn’t have used the word ‘illegal,’ I should have — it’s illegal,” Biden said of Ybarra’s U.S. immigration status. In response to the comments, the White House said the president “did not apologize” to Ybarra.
Watch the video:
Harvard University/Harris poll But a paper published this week found that 74 percent of Hispanic Americans think the word “illegal” is appropriate to use to describe Riley’s killer.
Only 26% of Hispanics said the word “illegal” was inappropriate.
Across racial lines and political lines, Americans feel comfortable using the word “illegal” to describe illegal aliens like Thorn. According to the poll, 79 percent of Americans think the term is appropriate, including 81 percent of white Americans, 74 percent of black Americans, 80 percent of Republicans, and 80 percent of Democrats. 79 percent, and 78 percent of floating votes.
In general, 73% of Americans say it is appropriate to use the term “illegal immigrant” when referring to people who are in the United States illegally. This includes the majority of white Americans, Hispanic Americans, black Americans, Republicans, Democrats, and floating voters.
Related Video — Democratic Chicago City Councilman: Sanctuary cities see surging immigration as a ‘cash cow’ to get federal funding:
Polls also show that in the wake of Riley’s murder, Americans say they want stricter immigration controls to prevent waves of illegal immigrants from flooding into the United States. .
For example, 7 in 10 Americans say Riley’s murder shows the United States “needs tougher immigration policies,” but 7 in 10 Americans say the issue is being exploited. Only 3 out of 10 people said so.
Approximately 72% of white Americans, 69% of Hispanic Americans, 64% of black Americans, 84% of Republican voters, 62% of Democrats, and 64% of swing voters said that Riley’s murder was the cause of immigration in the United States. He said this confirms the need for crackdowns.
On February 22, Riley jogged around the University of Georgia (UGA) campus in Athens, Georgia. When she did not return for several hours, her roommate called the police, who searched for her.
Riley’s body was found beaten in a wooded area later that day.
The next day, Ybarra was arrested and charged with Riley’s kidnapping and murder. Ibarra arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso, Texas, in September 2022 and was taken into the interior of the country by the Biden administration’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said. Freed.
More than six months before Riley was killed, Ybarra was arrested in New York City on suspicion of injury to a child and violating motor vehicle regulations. The city’s custody policy ensured that Ybarra would be released from jail instead of being turned over to ICE agents.
In October 2023, Ybarra was cited in Athens for shoplifting, but was not turned over to ICE agents. He failed to appear in court for the charges, so a warrant was issued for his arrest.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Please email jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
