ROME, Ga.—Former President Donald Trump paid special tribute to Laken Riley, the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was slain last month allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant, during a speech at a campaign rally in Rome, Georgia, on March 9.
Scores of the more than 4,000 supporters of the overwhelming favorite to be the Republican presidential nominee held up signs displaying Ms. Riley’s face with the caption “say her name,” days after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) made President Joe Biden do just that during his State of the Union address.
The congresswoman received standing ovations wherever she was seen walking through the crowd. Often, they chanted “M-T-G.”
“All she wanted to do was help people,” she said of Ms. Riley on March 9. “She just wanted to help people her entire life, and her life was taken by an illegal alien—a monster that should have never been in our country.”
She recalled handing President Joe Biden the pin she wore, which said “say her name,” before he gave his State of the Union address. Nearly 50 minutes into his speech, he hadn’t even mentioned the open border once, she said. So she yelled from her seat, and President Biden didn’t even say the woman’s name correctly, calling her “Lincoln” instead of “Laken.”
When President Trump took the stage a few hours later, he also told Ms. Riley’s story in the presence of her family and friends, adding that the homicide suspect is an illegal alien who had been intentionally released by President Biden.
“He’s released tens of thousands of people like this,” he said of President Biden. “Tens of thousands. Because, you know, they come from jails, and they come from mental institutions. He will release them into our country.
“Biden has implemented a formal policy that illegal aliens who intrude into the United States are granted immunity from deportation. Thus, when this monster showed up at our border, he was set free immediately under the program.”
President Trump then shared the news that President Biden went on television to say he regretted calling the homicide suspect “illegal” and that he should have used the word “undocumented.” The crowd erupted in boos and jeers.
“He’s got no regret, no empathy, no compassion, and worst of all, he has no intention of stopping the deadly invasion that stole precious Laken’s beautiful American life,” he said of President Biden.
He thanked Ms. Riley’s family for being at the event, said that he and his supporters share their grief, and vowed to keep her memory alive.
What President Biden has done on our border is a crime against the humanity of the American people for which he will never be forgiven, President Trump said.
“We’re gonna fix it fast,” he said. “We’re gonna have the largest deportation rise in history.”
The crowd launched into applause, and over their cheers, the former president promised “justice for Laken.”
“I will fight like no one has ever fought before to ensure that what happened to this American daughter—this incredible, incredible American—that this never happens to any other daughter or anyone else ever again,” he said.
Meanwhile, work is already being done by “America First” legislatures to fix the problem, according to Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.). He sponsored the Laken Riley Act, which requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to issue detainers and take custody of illegals who commit theft-related crimes, as well as allow state attorney generals to sue the Secretary of Homeland Security for injunctive relief if harm befalls a state or its citizens due to policy failures or immigration actions, and violation of detention requirements.
“It’s going to help our law enforcement, put one more tool in their chest there so that they can ... detain these illegal criminals and get rid of them until we can get Trump back in the White House and we start deporting these dangerous people,” the congressman told The Epoch Times.
The bill also condemns President Biden’s border policies such as “catch and release” and calls him to reinstate the “remain in Mexico” policy. It passed with the support of 37 Democrats.
