Ted Cruz Has Inconvenient Reminder for Katie Porter After Absurd 'One Instance' Claim in Laken Riley Case

Not surprisingly, Democrats have been doing everything they can to deflect and distance both themselves and the actions they've taken (and have not taken) on the illegal immigration front from the murder of 22-year-old University of Georgia nursing student Laken Hope Riley.

Riley, as RedState previously reported, was found dead on campus last Thursday afternoon after a friend reported her missing. A 26-year-old Venezuelan man, Jose Antonio Ibarra, who authorities say is in the country illegally, has been charged with her kidnapping and murder.

READ: Georgia Democrat Mayor's Presser on Laken Riley Murder Case Does Not Go Well As Tensions Boil Over

On Sunday, as we also noted, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), who is a candidate for the U.S. Senate, appeared on CNN where the issue of Riley's tragic death and her alleged murderer's status as an illegal immigrant were discussed. Incredibly, Porter asserted that “The important thing to focus on is any one instance shouldn’t shape our overall immigration policy":

Well, I think what a horrible tragedy like this happens, I think whenever were [sic] 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 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 all the other, how all the other parts of immigration policy fit together.

The next day, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) got wind of what Porter claimed during the interview, and responded with an important correction:

It’s not “one instance.”

In 2021, over 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, many of whom were poisoned by Chinese fentanyl smuggled across the southern border.https://t.co/bRVm7PHYFi
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 27, 2024

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) also had some pretty eye-opening inconvenient facts for Porter:

This is de despicable.

It is not “any one instance”.

You will notice that after 2020, these crimes skyrocketed.

That is why Dems, including the ones running in #WI03, have to pretend like the murder of Ms Riley by a criminal illegal alien is a one-off.

Shame. https://t.co/BdYjYhQ2OD pic.twitter.com/ksRSqEdgvT
— Derrick Van Orden (@derrickvanorden) February 27, 2024

As conservative commentator Jim Treacher observed, it's like Porter and other open borders Democrats all the way up to the Biden White House have in effect been saying "Please ignore the direct consequences of our failed policies."

But it won't work.

To reiterate a point I made in an earlier story, Riley's case has struck a nerve with people across the country who have hit their breaking point with the illegal immigration revolving door, and how it has continually resulted in innocent, law-abiding citizens becoming victimized.

In my opinion, this case could do for the illegal immigration debate and Joe Biden what Terry McAuliffe's comments about not wanting parents to have a say in their child's schooling did for the public education debate and his 2021 Virginia gubernatorial campaign.

In the latter, a fire was lit under parents that could not be contained, and in the end, McAuliffe went down in defeat. Between Riley's case and the economy, the same may hold true for Joe Biden, but that's only if Republicans keep this issue - and the consequences of inaction - front and center in the minds of voters from now until Election Day.