A leader of the National Border Patrol Council called on President Joe Biden to apologize to all of America on Monday while speaking about the death of Laken Riley.
While appearing on Fox News' America Reports, Art Del Cueto, the vice president of the National Border Patrol Council union, spoke about Biden calling Jose Ibarra, the 26-year-old Venezuelan national arrested in Riley's death an "illegal" and recent remarks by the president that he regrets using the term.
"If he wants to apologize, who he needs to apologize is to the entire American public for the disastrous border policies that he has put in place," Del Cueto said. "There's many lives that have been lost because of his policies, not just the Riley family, but you also got to take into consideration the amount of fentanyl that has been allowed into this country under this administration."
"That's who the apology needs to go to—the entire American people," Del Cueto added.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment.
The context:
During his State of the Union address last week, Biden spoke about Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was found dead in Georgia last month. Ibarra was arrested in connection with Riley's death and it was confirmed by immigration officials that he was an undocumented migrant from Venezuela.
"Laken Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That's right. But how many thousands of people are being killed by legals? To her parents, I say, my heart goes out to you, having lost children myself. I understand," Biden said during his address.
Biden's use of the term "illegal" sparked criticism from some, and during an interview with MSNBC over the weekend, he said, "An undocumented person. I shouldn't have used 'illegal,' it's undocumented."
What we know:
On Monday, White House spokesman Olivia Dalton spoke to reporters about Biden's recent interview with MSNBC and said, "The president did not apologize."
"There was no apology anywhere in that conversation," Dalton added, according to Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg.
Views:
In a post to X, formerly Twitter, House Speaker Mike Johnson responded to Biden's backtrack of the word "illegal" and said, "The president is cowering to his base and showing deference to a man who deserves none."
"This man is an illegal immigrant who brutally murdered Laken Riley. President Biden should be apologizing to Laken's family. What an embarrassment."
What's next:
Immigration will likely remain a major topic for voters in the 2024 election and Republicans have repeatedly criticized Biden's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Biden has continued to call on Congress to pass a border security deal, previously saying that he did all he could to secure the border.
Update 3/11/24, 2:08 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
Update 3/11/24, 2:45 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
