Laken Riley a victim of our lax national security
As Americans, over three generations, my family has had an unusual custom. More by chance than design, we leave the United States for work, and then have children, returning back home to grow them up.
Thus, my dad was born just outside of Havana, Cuba, later to be raised in the Bronx. I myself was born in Caracas, Venezuela, reared in New Jersey. And, keeping the tradition alive, when I was a parish minister in Australia, my two eldest children were born there, reaching adulthood here in Connecticut. All along our collective citizenship has been based in the well documented passage of my great-grandparents from Ireland and Italy, via Ellis Island.
Like most, I realize we are part of a justly proud and faithful nation of immigrants. Yet, this legacy of the systematized embrace of, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” has, in the last three years, been largely trashed and turned into a frantic and dangerous scramble. Drug cartels line their pockets on the backs of the desperate, enabled by a deliberately enacted open-border policy that has victimized children, crippled cities, and directly led to the willful killing of nursing student Laken Riley.
According to police reports, Laken was allegedly killed by an illegal migrant from Venezuela. Some media have referred to this individual as “undocumented.” But in actuality the record is quite clear. In late 2022, the suspect crossed the Mexican border into El Paso, subsequently being paroled and released into our country, apparently due to lack of space for reasonable confinement. Five months ago he was arrested, then released, in New York City for child endangerment and motor vehicle license violation. Yet this event turned out to be a minor bump in the road and no obstacle for the alleged perpetrator to find residence in Athens, Georgia, in proximity to lots of young hopefuls, like Ms. Riley.
On paper, Riley’s life was reportedly taken by blunt force trauma, but that’s not the fundamental truth. In tragic reality, Laken is gone because some in power chose to play around with our national security.
The “remain in Mexico” policy was scuttled, wall construction was halted, “catch and release” was reinstated, a de-facto invitation was broadcast, and word got out. For
three years we were told that the border was secure, regardless of what videos and on-site journalists easily reported. So, during this period, more than 7 million have arrived, rendering the sobering fact that if only 1% of the newly invited and unvetted folks have come here with bad intent, we could have 70,000 suspect souls to contend with. Thus, new gangs have appeared, related crime is increasing, assaults continue unabated, budgets are strained, and caravans now stream into California, with many paying $5,000 a head for the privilege.
Perhaps some think the current approach is akin to Christian morality and “what Jesus would do.” It’s not. Not by a long shot. In his earthly life, according to Scripture, we see Jesus as being rather respectful of civil order, advising the payment of Roman taxes and healing the servant of a Roman centurion, knowing full well that a Roman procurator would eventually be sentencing him to death. Indeed, the Bible records that Lord’s earliest followers had great deference for civil, albeit pagan authority, knowing that chaotic anarchy is no proper environment for the peaceful well-being of anyone.
Christian ethics and praxis are not a sentimental game of anything goes. In this Lenten Season, those who rely on Jesus Christ need to be mindful of the fact that Our Lord cares deeply about the grave injustice inflicted upon Laken Riley, not only by her alleged killer, but by those who cleared the path for this heartless and hateful murder. Jesus’ words regarding those who would harm children are not gentle, meek, or mild.
What we are all currently being subjected to, citizen and hopeful migrant alike, is not the abundant life the Gospel promises and our country so often provides. We have been set amidst a societal maelstrom, where the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness we rightly desire for everyone may well be made accessible for no one.