A former New York City police officer stated that sanctuary policies in New York allowed the man accused of murdering nursing student Laken Riley to be released and later commit the crime in Georgia. Ethan Curreri, who arrested Jose Ibarra for child endangerment in August 2023, spoke at a White House event in February 2025 hosted by former President Donald Trump, honoring victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants.
In August 2023, Curreri and his partner stopped Ibarra for reckless driving with a child on a motorcycle. The child was not wearing a helmet, and no safety restraints were used. Ibarra was arrested for endangering the welfare of a child and processed. Curreri, now an officer with the Juno Beach Police Department in Florida, stated that he did not expect to hear about the case again until he recognized Ibarra's image on the news in late February 2024, following Riley's murder on the University of Georgia campus.
"My heart sank. I immediately replayed Ibarra’s arrest in my mind – what went wrong? Why wasn’t he in jail, or deported? Why was he in Georgia?" Curreri wrote in an opinion piece. He believes that while law enforcement performed its duty in arresting Ibarra, systemic failures allowed him to be in a position to commit murder. Curreri cited the role of judges, district attorneys, and politicians in the justice system's failures, stating that individuals cycle through the system with minimal consequences.
The former officer also pointed to immigration enforcement, noting that Ibarra had entered the country unlawfully and could have been removed. He argued that such individuals can be released into communities when policies in so-called sanctuary cities, like New York, limit local cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Curreri suggested this lack of coordination, rather than a failure of law enforcement, contributed to Riley's death.
Jose Ibarra was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Curreri's remarks were made at the Angel Family Remembrance Ceremony, where he shared his experience with families of victims of crimes allegedly committed by undocumented immigrants. He emphasized the human cost of systemic failures.
