Fox’s John Roberts Confronts Rep Ro Khanna On Why He Voted No on Act Named for ‘Beautiful Nursing Student’ Laken Riley

Fox’s John Roberts confronted Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) about his “No” vote on the Laken Riley Act passed by the House Thursday, that had a stated purpose of preventing migrants in the U.S. illegally from committing violent crimes.

Riley was a 22-year old nursing student who was killed while out jogging on the University of Georgia campus. Police arrested Jose Antonio Ibarra from Venezuela and charged him with felony murder. Ibarra had been arrested for alleged child endangerment prior to the murder, but was never detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The Laken Riley Act would “require the Secretary of Homeland Security to take into custody aliens who have been charged in the United States with theft, and for other purposes.” It passed in a 251-170 vote, with 37 Democrats and all Republicans present voting “Yes.”

“[Theft is] what Jose Ibarra had been charged with, he was let out, he went to Georgia, and allegedly killed Laken Riley. Where do you come down on the bill, where will your vote fall?” Roberts asked.

“I’ll tell you why I and most Democrats are a ‘No’ on that bill,” Khanna said. “Because the bill says that if you are arrested, that you could be detained indefinitely. I used to think, John, that in this country we had a jury process. You have to go through a process, you have your rights and you decide whether you are convicted or not. To have someone detained without that due process, I think, is un-American.”

“Even if that person allegedly goes on to kill a beautiful nursing student on the University of Georgia grounds?” Roberts asked.

“Well, obviously that is horrific, but you know, what he did, which was steal $200, I don’t think people would have been able to draw a direct correlation between everyone who steals $200 and being a brutal murderer,” Khanna said. “He deserves the entire book thrown at him and I don’t have an ounce of sympathy and I was outraged as anyone by his crime. But the policy needs to still uphold our fundamental rights.”

Watch the clip above via Fox News.