Republican lawmakers on Thursday tore into Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the release of the Venezuelan illegal immigrant now charged with the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley -- accusing the agency of having released him into the U.S. unlawfully.
Lawmakers grilled the embattled secretary on Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, who is accused of killing Riley on Feb. 22, while she was jogging at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed with Fox News Digital previously that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) had encountered Ibarra on Sept. 8, 2022, and he had been "paroled and released for further processing."
Laken Riley poses for a photo posted to Facebook. Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, was found dead near a lake on campus on Feb. 22. An illegal immigrant has been charged with her murder. (Laken Riley/Facebook)
But Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., then turned up the heat by reading directly from the parole file, which lawmakers had obtained. He also revealed that Ibarra had been given a work permit, despite having been accused of a crime against a child in New York and having the charges later expunged by local authorities.
"Nothing is done to this guy. He had a criminal record to start with, he's in the country on illegal grounds. You have falsely and illegally allowed him in. He committed a crime against a child. He's not prosecuted, it's expunged. In November, get this, in November, Ibarra files an application for employment authorization. And unbelievably, on December 9, 2023, it's approved," he said.
"So this is your policies [sic] in action, Mr. Secretary," he said.
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"I am confident that justice will be vindicated in the criminal prosecution of the case," Mayorkas responded, which led Hawley to make a reference to the recent impeachment effort against Mayorkas.
Well, hopefully he'll get more of a trial than you got," he said. "Otherwise, there'll be no justice for anyone at all."
Separately, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, raised the CHNV (Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan) parole program, which allows up to 30,000 migrants a month to fly or travel directly into the U.S. via parole.
"Why are you mass importing tens of thousands of Venezuelans into our country via parole, knowing they can't be deported, because Venezuela isn't exactly accepting removal flights? He asked him.
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"We are not doing that, senator," Mayorkas said. "The term ‘importation’ is incorrect."
Mayorkas also said it was false to say that Venezuela won’t take return flights.
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"We have negotiated in the past removal flights to Venezuela. Those are suspended right now," he said, before adding that Mexico will sometimes take Venezuelan nationals.
"So, why do you say it's not correct when it's been suspended? That's why Americans don't trust you," Marshall fired back.
Fox News' Aubrie Spady and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.
He can be reached at adam.shaw2@fox.com or on Twitter.
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