Democratic Athens, Georgia Mayor Kelly Girtz defended his city’s policy to protect illegal migrants from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) just days after such a migrant murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, according to emails obtained by the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI).
Riley was out for a run on the University of Georgia campus when she was apprehended and killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, on Feb. 22. During an email correspondence with Clarke County Sheriff John Williams on Feb. 24, as reviewed by IRLI, Girtz declared his support for Athens’ policy regarding ICE detainers and “lack” of cooperation with the agency.
