The arrest of an illegal immigrant in connection with the death of Mollie Tibbetts "injects reality" into the debate that changes are needed to the nation's immigration laws, Rep. Pete King said Wednesday.
"Too often people get caught up in vague speeches, comments," the New York Republican told Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
"Here is a young woman in the prime of her life being murdered by an illegal immigrant. I'm not saying that all illegal immigrants commit crimes. The fact is, if he had not been in the country, she would be alive today."
Cristhian Bahena Rivera, 24, is facing first-degree murder charges.
Rivera is believed to have been in the Iowa area where Tibbetts' body was located for four to seven years, and had been working at a farm in the region. He led investigators to the college student's body, and admitted he'd followed her and had run alongside or behind her as she jogged.
"The job of the police is hard enough keeping track of people who are legally in the country as to whether or not they can be committing a crime," King said. "To have somebody in the underground or somebody here illegally makes their job that much more difficult and puts Americans at risk."
King, though, did agree that he does not like to see a death like that of Tibbits and "turn it into something political. It has to be debated. It is not just a political issue but an issue of life and death."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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