Rep. Katie Porter responded to the murder of a Georgia nursing student allegedly by an illegal immigrant.
While acknowledging the tragedy, Porter argued single instances should not dictate overall immigration policy.
Rep. Katie Porter said, “I think when a horrible tragedy like this happens, I think whenever we‘re dealing with violent crime, there is a sense of outrage, of sadness and loss. But I think the important thing to focus on is any one instance shouldn‘t shape our overall immigration policy, which has so many different facets, including economic choices about what workers to allow in and how to create prosperity in America.”
“So the situation is tragic and it’s a loss and it’s important to acknowledge that, but also to recognize how all the other parts of immigration policy fit together,” continued the lawmaker.
Rep. Porter said, “I‘m really heartened that President Biden is going to the border. Of course, we would love to have him come visit the border here in California. One of the things I‘ve heard over and over again in Oversight Committee hearings is that our southern border isn‘t a monolith. The challenges that our border personnel and communities face are different in areas where it’s more rural, where there are different cities depending on geography and depending on where migrants are going.”
She welcomed President Biden visiting the border but felt challenges varied in different areas, requiring local input.
Porter did not support simply closing the border via executive action, believing it did not address long-term problems like lack of resources.
She advocated comprehensive reform rather than reactionary responses, as proposed by former President Trump who vowed large-scale deportations.
Porter said, “I think executive action is really important. It’s the only way that we‘ve been able to make any progress in addressing immigration at all. But I think we‘ve seen under Title 42 and some other policies that efforts to simply ‘close’ the border is not really solving the longer-term problem, which is that we have not put the resources or the policies at the border.”
Trump wrote to “seal the border.”
“We will begin the largest deportation operation of illegal CRIMINALS in American History!” promised the former president.
The White House also expressed condolences over the murder while asserting those found guilty should face accountability.
A White House spokesperson said, “We would like to extend our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Laken Hope Riley.”
The spokesperson added, “People should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law if they are found to be guilty.”
Porter’s perspective focused on nuanced, long-term solutions rather than reactive policies shaped by isolated incidents.
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