Lawmakers berate Mayorkas on Laken Riley murder: ‘Your policies in action’

Republican lawmakers hammered DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on the release of the man who later was accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.

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." 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.

But lawmakers cited the parole case file showing that Ibarra had been released due to an alleged lack of detention space – although some conservatives have pointed to data showing that ICE was not near maximum capacity at the time of Ibarra's release. The statute governing parole, however, says that releases are only allowed due to urgent humanitarian reasons or "significant public benefit." Republicans have accused the administration of abusing parole with its broad policies at the border, saying that the paroles often do not meet these criteria.