Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
February 29, 2024
Say her name: LAKEN HOPE RILEY
With the ever growing number of illegal aliens streaming across the southern border, invading the United States, understand that this nation used to be one of givers that is now most certainly replete with takers.
As pages of the calendar flipped from the 19th century to the 20th, the United States welcomed foreigners - legal immigrants (except for Jews during the Holocaust under President Franklin Roosevelt), under certain criteria. New immigrants underwent health and medical exams. Those deemed ill, diseased, or contagious could, at the very least be quarantined, if not possibly sent back to their country of origin.
New immigrants required a sponsor, typically a family member or a member of his or her ethnic or religious community who would ensure the newcomer would not be a miscreant or drain on society, but instead a productive member of society. In other words, a giver, not a taker.
Millions sought their fortunes or religious freedom in America with the promise of streets paved with gold. In those days, the streets were barely paved with asphalt. There were no safety nets. People either sank or swam. The socialist New Deal had not yet been created. (To be fair, the founding of FDIC turned out to be the best part of the New Deal.) Some who sank turned to less than honest ventures.
The overwhelming majority of new Americans took pride in their new country, their new homeland. They may have spoken Yiddish, Italian, Greek, Russian, or Polish at home, but outside, they spoke English - even if broken, accented English. These folks became part of the Melting Pot - getting jobs side by side with people from numerous other countries, sending their children to public schools, and many of whose grandchildren became the first in their families to graduate college.
These people became givers - donors to, or founders of charities, scholarships, builders of hospitals, arts centers. Businessmen and women who made fortunes also employed those who could work toward their own. As successes in their fields, they could participate in the above giving.
(This is not to paint a picture behind the disguise of rose-colored glasses. Before the end of World War II segregation continued unchecked, neither sports nor the military had yet to integrate, more than 125,000 Japanese-Americans suffered degrading internment thanks to FDR, and anti-Semitism was prevalent - although it has reached ever-growing highs over the last six months.)
The immigration criteria has simply been relaxed, ignored, or reduced to pulp fiction in the last four-plus decades. Illegal immigration has skyrocketed to new and appalling heights. While Barack Obama may or may not have earned the moniker of “Deporter in Chief,” and Donald Trump began building a wall that would be thwarted by a Democrat Congress, Joe Biden ended the Remain in Mexico policy and has flung open the doors to the United States in a brazen attempt to ensure Democrat rule in perpetuity. Estimates range from six to eight million illegals entering the United States since Biden occupied 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Diseased, unvaccinated - with no requirement to be so, unlike US citizens who lost jobs, or were kicked unceremoniously out of the military or schools in hypocritical fashion. Illegal aliens from numerous countries, and not just in Latin America, but also from the African and Asian continents are bringing with them “diphtheria, tetanus, polio, hepatitis C, measles, and chicken pox,” said Dr. Marc Siegel of Fox News.
Unvetted millions - single, military aged males who have no education, no promise of work, many with criminal records are invading the United States demanding “free stuff.” And the uniparty - Democrats and RINOS together are granting medical care, placement for children in schools, debit cards, ethnically appropriate food, housing in hotels many Americans could not afford - hotels in many cases were housing now supplanted military veterans in dire need. (Every administration is guilty of abandoning our veterans, for whom we should all be grateful every day.)
Many of these illegal aliens are miscreants who have raised the crime rates in the United States to disturbing levels. There are attacks and assaults on members of law enforcement, women and children, theft, and not just in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California because all states have become border states; because all major and minor cities have become sanctuary cities.
The impact of the Biden open borders has struck far too many families across the fruited plain. There is even a name for those who have suffered the loss of a child - a club that which no one would ask for membership. These are the Angel Moms and just a week ago a new member was added - Allyson Phillips - grieving mom of Laken Hope Riley.
Laken Hope Riley met her fate allegedly at the hands of an illegal alien - Jose Antonio Ibarra, 26, a Venezuelan national. This filthy animal beat Riley so terribly as to disfigure her skull. Because Ibarra had no reason to commit such a heinous crime, a 22-year-old nursing student savagely lost her life while simply enjoying a run outside the University of Georgia campus in Athens, GA. The cause of death is listed as blunt force trauma.
This is the epitome of a giver and a taker. Riley, a nursing student at Augusta University with no criminal record, chose a career of giving and caring for others. Riley would soon have been a saver of lives, but Ibarra is a taker of life. Ibarra, who illegally entered the United States on September 8, 2022, gained release from Border Protection. He was arrested in New York City on September 14, 2023 for child endangerment - a child under 10 years of age. Arrested again on February 23, 2024, this time on charges of felony murder, malice murder, kidnapping, false imprisonment, aggravated assault, and concealing the death of another. If found guilty, Ibarra deserves nothing less than the death penalty. As an aside, Ibarra's brother Diego is behind bars for possessing a counterfeit Green Card.
Laken Riley, from Woodstock, GA, graduated River Ridge High School in 2020, also in Woodstock, where she ran Cross Country. Her funeral is set for Thursday, February 29 and the burial on Friday, March 1.
Laken Riley’s family issued a statement. “Laken was an amazing daughter, sister, friend, and overall person in general. Her love for the L-rd was exemplified in every aspect of her life. She will be missed every day but we promise to honor her life moving forward in a very big way.”
Riley’s freshman year roommate Bianca Tiller described her friend as the “sweetest soul” she’s ever met, and that she’s infuriated that Riley’s murderer is here illegally. “We need to be careful who we’re letting in the United States. I know they’ve sent letters to the president and I hope everything gets taken seriously, and of course Laken was such an amazing person. I really do hope that everyone gets to realize who she is and that her legacy really lives on,” said Tiller.
Biden and recently impeached (but not yet tried by the Senate) Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, have blood on their hands. Not just for the death of Riley, but many others - some not yet even discovered.
Since Biden began his occupation of the White House, he has made it his continuing goal to dismantle the good works of President Trump, and this includes destroying the fabric of our nation with his open borders. Despite the constant messaging from Biden, Mayorkas, and Kamala Harris that the border is closed and/or that the border is secure, more than eight million invaders are proof to the contrary.
Government has but one obligation - protect its citizenry from all enemies foreign and domestic - period. This government is failing miserably on both counts because it is too focused on placating illegals, controlling the purchasing power of Americans whether via automobiles, dishwashers, or the food we eat, or the idiocy of pronouns and so-called microaggressions. How about worrying about, and combating MACROaggressions? Does this sound like consent of the governed?
Demonstrating the tone deafness of the Democrat Party, on February 1 of this year, 150 Democrat House members voted against a bill to deport illegals who commit DUIs - 150. Fortunately, 59 Democrats had the good sense to join the GOP in passing this bill. This is the bare minimum regarding the disposition of illegal aliens.
Even more callous is US Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA). Practically dismissing the tragedy of Laken Riley, Porter said “one instance shouldn’t shape our overall immigration policy, which has so many different facets including economic choices about what workers to allow in, to how to create prosperity in America. So the situation is tragic and it’s a loss and it’s important to acknowledge that, but also to recognize all the other parts of immigration policy fit together.” Is Porter’s word salad coming from the same salad bar as Kamala Harris’s?
Say her name: MOLLIE TIBBITTS
Sadly, as is so well known, the murder of Laken Riley at the hands of an illegal alien is not simply “one instance,” as Porter suggests. Coincidentally, Porter, 50, is a native of Fort Dodge, IA, the same state where another runner, Mollie Tibbetts, 20, lost her life - murdered at the hands of yet another illegal alien. Tibbetts, born in San Francisco and attending the University of Iowa disappeared on July 18, 2018. Her body was found a month later - stabbed repeatedly. Arrested in August 2018 after leading authorities to the cornfield where he buried Tibbetts’s body, was Mexican national Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24. In August 2021, then 27, Rivera earned a life sentence with no possibility for parole. Iowa does not have the death penalty at its disposal.
In some of the most irresponsible so-called journalism this journalist and writer has seen, the Associated Press all but blamed the victim in the Riley case. Its February 24 headline read, “The killing of a nursing student out for a run highlights the fears of solo female athletes.” Part of the article read, “...authorities Thursday found the body of Laken Hope Riley and arrested Athens resident Jose Antonio Ibarra.” Nowhere in the article is there a mention that Ibarra is an illegal alien with a criminal record.
Not to be left out for the award for irresponsible journalism, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution posted on X, “#BREAKING: A 26-year-old Athens man has been charged with murder in the death of a nursing student on the University of Georgia campus.” The Atlanta paper also ignored Ibarra’s immigration status and criminal record because for neither media outlet do the facts fit their narrative. Illegal aliens are, in fact, responsible for some of the worst killings in the United States.
But, in what has to be one of the biggest media lies, Axios posted on February 24, 2024, "by using the term 'open border,' conservatives are falsely suggesting that anyone can get into the United States without much hassle. But the southern border is more fortified than its ever been."
And just one day prior, US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) doubled down on the Axios lie with her own stupidity, saying on MSNBC, that the Republicans are "ginning up a false narrative about this thing [illegal immigration] being a crisis."
Say her name: LIZBETH MEDINA
On December 5, 2023 Lizbeth Medina lost her life at the hands of an illegal alien - stabbed to death in her Edna, TX home, and found in the bathtub by her mother Jacqueline. Lizbeth, a 16-year-old Edna High School student and cheerleader was murdered by Rafael Govea Romero, 23, later arrested on December 9. With sufficient evidence, Romero was indicted on capital murder charges.
Say her name: KAYLA HAMILTON
Kayla Hamilton, 20, of Aberdeen, MD lost her life on July 27, 2022 in Aberdeen, raped and strangled by an illegal alien. A 16-year-old illegal alien from El Salvador committed the murder and belonged to MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, one of the most violent gangs to rear their ugly heads. Thanks to DNA evidence, the murderer, still a minor at 17, was arrested on January 15, 2023.
Hamilton’s mother Tammy Nobles is suing both the departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services. “Our young women aren’t safe. Our young women aren’t safe. I see our women being killed, murdered, and raped. Nobody’s standing up and doing anything. I’m trying to do what I can to bring awareness and keep this from happening and let government officials know something has to be done. This cannot keep happening. Where’s the outrage? Does citizenship mean anything anymore,” asked Nobles, appearing on The Ingraham Angle on Fox News.
Nobles is absolutely right. So too are Jacqueline Medina, Bianca Tiller, and Allyson Phillips. And Donald Trump is also right. Posting on Trump Social on February 26, he wrote, “When I’m your President, we will immediately Seal the Border, Stop the Invasion, and on Day One, we will begin the largest deportation operation of illegal CRIMINALS in American History.”
And deportation is what is so desperately needed. We the people support immigration - LEGAL immigration; givers, not takers - people who will make America a better place than they found it. Yes, we want people to make America great again. In order to do that, government, from all levels, must stop incentivizing foreign nationals from coming to the United States illegally. These foreign countries are not sending their best and brightest here, reminiscent of Fidel Castro’s Mariel Boatlift out of Cuba in 1980 where many of the 125,000-plus Cubans coming to ports in Florida had criminal records and mental instability.
Come legally the way my great grandparents did; the way my grandparents did; the way my mother-in-law did - all proud to be AMERICAN. Proud to wave the AMERICAN flag, not a foreign flag. Want to wave a foreign flag, stay in that country. Be a giver, not a taker. Serve your new country as numerous members of my family did, including a grandfather who worked on the Manhattan Project. Don’t know what that is? Look it up! We want new Americans who are not public health or public security risks. We want people who learn English, and become part of the Melting Pot, and not a Balkanization of peoples unable to communicate with one another, creating fear, loathing, criminal activities, and a further crumbling of the Republic. This is an imperative vital before the United States becomes even more unrecognizable.
May G-d save the Union.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.
