Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines has made quite a name for herself as a conservative activist, particularly for speaking out against trans women participating in biological women's sports. But now she's speaking out about something else, and once again, for her, it's personal.
Earlier this week, Gaines took to X to announce that her husband of two and half years, who moved to the United States from England six years ago, still doesn't have his green card, which would grant him the right to live and work in the United States permanently. Gaines and Louis Barker met at the University of Kentucky in 2019 when they were both students — and NCAA swimmers —and were married in May 2022.
So, he seems like the perfect candidate for a green card, right? Guess again. According to Gaines, the U.S. government won't grant it to him because he refuses to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Seriously.
My husband moved to America from England for college 6 years ago. We got married over 2.5 years ago.
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) November 18, 2024
He STILL doesn't have a green card because he won't get the vaccine. They don't force illegal immigrants to get the jab, just the legal ones.
A quick visit to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services website verifies that, in addition to vaccines for diseases like mumps, measles and polio, any noncitizen who wishes to change their status must get one for COVID-19 as well.
"He came here legally," Gaines said in a TikTok video, adding, "If you haven't dealt with this process, I envy you." In the video, she showed a letter she received from the federal government stating that her husband didn't meet the requirements because he didn't have any record of ever getting the vaccine. "You heard that right. In 2024, you have to have the under-researched, ineffective COVID-19 vaccine to enter into this country legally," she said.
But do you know who doesn't have to have the vaccine to enter the United States? If you guessed illegal immigrants, you'd be correct. If you hop on over the border, you're not required to have any sort of vaccinations, and you're even given free stuff, which is also something Gaines addresses in the video.
And she's right. Let's use Venezuelan gang member and convicted murderer Jose Ibarra as an example. Ibarra killed nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia campus earlier this year and was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison yesterday.
Ibarra is a member of the criminal organization Tren de Aragua. He came to the U.S. through El Paso, Texas, in 2022. Rather than send him back the other way, the Biden-Harris administration gave him a future court date and bussed him to New York. While he was in New York, he got arrested. He was allowed back out onto the streets. In the fall of 2023, the Biden-Harris administration provided him with an all expenses paid trip to Atlanta, and he moved to Athens, Georgia, where he got into more trouble. The Biden-Harris administration allowed him to stay in the country and continue committing crimes. One day last February, he was out looking for a woman to rape and chose Riley. When she refused, he bashed her head in with a rock.
But God forbid a legal immigrant who has made nothing but positive contributions to this country as a college student, athlete, businessman, and husband and just wants to live here with his wife doesn't have a vaccine for what is now just a bad cold for most people.
In Gaines's TikTok video, she goes on to talk about how easy it is to come here illegally, while it takes months and months of paperwork and fees and lawyers to do it the right way. South African-born Elon Musk, who is also a legal immigrant, backed her up on X:
Legal immigration to America is ridiculously slow & difficult, even for super talented people. Needs to be fixed.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2024
pic.twitter.com/h65o4ShPgX
And I have to back Musk up based on my own personal experience. I have a friend who lives in Costa Rica who is respected in his field. He's well-educated and has two decades of experience in his profession, working his way into management. I don't want to disrespect his privacy, but he lost his job due to the pandemic, and he hasn't been able to find another one because of the limitations in that field in Central America. However, there is a great need for people in this field in the United States. We have spent countless hours researching what it would take for him to be able to come here and work, and let's just say the odds are stacked against him.
Musk is right. Legal immigration for talented people who want to come here and be upstanding members of society needs to be fixed. It should not be easier for a gang member who just wants to come here and rape and murder women compared to someone who wants to come fulfill a need in a particular field or live with their spouse. And nobody should be required to get a COVID-19 vaccine for anything anymore. Hopefully, all of this will change over the next four years.
