Was Catholic Charities Complicit in the Murder of Laken Riley? | The Gateway Pundit

This story originally appeared at Complicit Clergy and was republished with permission.

The story of the murder of Georgia college student Laken Riley by an illegal alien suspect named Jose Ibarra has dominated national news headlines this past week.

Ibarra allegedly entered the US via El Paso, Texas in 2022 and was released from a detention center due to overcrowding. NewsNation reports that a suspect matching Ibarra’s name and age was arrested by New York police in 2022 for endangering a 5-year-old child.

In September 2023, Jose Ibarra reportedly moved to Athens, Georgia to be near his brother, Diego Ibarra. Diego, also an illegal alien, entering the US in 2023 and was reportedly arrested several times by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.

Now we learn that Ibarra was apparently a resident of Covenant House, a New York based charity. Ibarra listed Covenant House’s address as his official release address on his U.S. Customs and Border Patrol documents. Congressman Lance Gooden of Texas has demanded that Convenant House immediately release all records related to Jose Ibarra.

I am demanding the Biden-funded NGO @CovenantHouse turns over all records related to Laken Riley’s killer, Jose Ibarra.

Ibarra listed the Covenant House as his release address per CBP records.

Taxpayers shouldn’t fund NGOs that harbor illegals!https://t.co/XvNaXxMWVR

— Lance Gooden (@Lancegooden) February 27, 2024

Covenant House is an agency of Catholic Charities of New York. Its stated goal is to provide safe housing and holistic care to youth ages 16–21 experiencing homelessness and survivors of human trafficking. Its latest 990 Form reveals that it raised nearly $91 million in 2022.

Covenant House operates in 14 U.S. States, 2 Canadian Providences and 6 Latin American cities.  A search of USAspending.gov for entries containing the keyword “Covenant House” revealed a total of $56.6 million in prime awards and $13.3 in subawards in federal taxpayer funds provided to Covenant House in between 2021-2023 (click here for a list of the detailed grants).  Keep in mind these grants may have been made for services unrelated to immigration activities, but money is fungible. Keep in mind this is simply one of the hundreds of entites through which Catholic organizations are receiving federal taxpayer funds and does not account for any state taxpayer grants these organizations may have received (see Bishop Bank Billions in Federal Immigration Funds).

Residing in the Archdiocese of New York, Covenant House is ultimately the responsibility of Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

RELATED: Cardinal Dolan Lectures Catholics on Illegal Immigration

Here are a few questions that we believe deserve some answers:

1. Did any El Paso-based Catholic charity provide assistance to Jose Ibarra when he entered the U.S. in 2022?
2. How did a 26-year-old illegal alien wind-up in Covenant House, a New York charity whose mission is serving kids that are survivors of human trafficking?
3. Does Covenant House actually provide housing for illegal aliens or simply provide a fake mailing address enabling illegals to enter the country?
4. Does Covenant House do a background check on people before providing them with housing?
5. Did Covenant House know of Ibarra’s arrest record in New York?
6. What types of assistant did Covenant House provide to Iberra (cash, debit cards, housing, food, transportation, phone, etc.)?
7. How many other illegal aliens are served by Covenant House?  What risks are kids being exposed to by these illegal aliens?
8. How many other Covenant House locations throughout the nation are providing assistant to illegal aliens?
9. Did Covenant House have a role in transferring Iberra to Georgia?  Was another agency involved? If so, which one(s)?
10. What contracts does Covenant House, Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese of New York have the federal and state government agencies in which they are receiving taxpayer funds to assist illegal aliens?

Perhaps Cardinal Dolan can provide some answers.

TAKE ACTION: Contact Cardinal Dolan at [email protected] or 212-371-1000 and ask him to cooperate with Congressman Gooden records request and let him know what you think about his Archdiocese involvement in the trafficking of illegal aliens.