Biden Co-Chair Downplays Riley Death: ‘The Issue Is Not That Migrants Commit Crimes’

Biden Campaign Co-Chair Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) reacted to the death of Georgia student Laken Riley by placing blame on Donald Trump for releasing “a million migrants” into the country when he was president and suggesting illegal aliens receive mass amnesty in the U.S.

In an interview on Friday’s broadcast of “CNN Newsroom,” Escobar claimed it was “impossible” to deport all the illegal aliens, so instead Congress should focus on introducing pathways to citizenship for them.

“[I]t is impossible to deport every undocumented person in this country. There simply are not the resources, nor is it advantageous to us. I’m sure you’ve seen the reports, Jim, that it has been immigrant labor, the immigrant workforce that has actually propped up our economy,” she told host Jim Acosta.

“The challenge we face is that Congress has not created legal pathways for them. We can have both a manageable immigration system and a well-managed border, but it takes congressional action.”

Acosta to his credit pushed back, asking if Joe Biden should still respond to the instances of “horrific crimes” by illegal aliens, to which Escobar responded that although criminals should be “prosecuted”, it’s important to remember that plenty of illegal aliens entered the U.S. under Trump.

“Look, every human being, from the president, to members of Congress, to every American, mourns the loss of anyone, and we need to see justice prevail, criminals prosecuted,” she replied. “But, as you mentioned, the fact of the matter is, immigrants commit crimes at less significant rates than native-born Americans. And in communities where migrants have been bused, crime has gone down. Anyone who commits such a horrific crime absolutely needs to be prosecuted within the full extent of the law.”

“But also, the fact of the matter is, when Donald Trump was in office, over a million migrants were released. I’m sure that there was a fraction of those migrants who also committed crimes,” she continued.

“The issue is not that migrants commit crimes. The issue is, we have not reformed a system that is badly broken, and it’s been Republicans standing in the way of that every year that we’ve tried this for decades. We can still do this, but we need Republicans to have the spine to come to the table and take a vote.”

Democrats have been in full damage control mode in the wake of 22-year-old Riley’s death allegedly at the hands of a Venezuelan illegal alien.

A recent New York Post article suggested Riley was killed because her attacker “panicked” after she fought back against his assault.

Athens Democrat Mayor Kelly Girtz faced heated backlash last week after downplaying Riley’s death at the hands of an illegal alien, claiming her death was not related to the massive influx of illegal aliens entering the U.S.

Thousands of people gathered for a vigil at the University of Georgia on Monday to remember Riley, which was summarily ignored by the mainstream media.