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EXCLUSIVE – Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says justice was served after a judge gave the 26-year-old migrant from Venezuela who was convicted of murdering Laken Riley a life sentence.

“I’m glad that justice was served, and it was swift and severe,” the governor said in a Fox News Digital interview on Wednesday soon after a judge in Athens County, Georgia, convicted and then sentenced Jose Antonio Ibarra, a migrant who had entered the U.S. illegally.

Kemp said the conviction and sentencing were “no surprise” and emphasized that Riley’s murder was “a really tragic set of circumstances. Tragic for that family and I’ve certainly had them in my thoughts and prayers. I know that people in Georgia and around the country have.”

JUDGE ANNOUNCES SENTENCE IN LAKEN RILEY MURDER TRIAL

The 22-year-old Riley, a nursing student, was attacked in February while running on a trail on the University of Georgia campus in Athens. Ibarra was charged in connection with the killing a day later.

The judge, H. Patrick Haggard of State Superior Court in Athens-Clarke County, rather than a jury, decided the case following a request from Ibarra’s lawyers after they unsuccessfully worked to move the case out of Athens.

Riley’s killing was repeatedly spotlighted by President-elect Trump during this year’s presidential campaign, as he argued for the mass deportation of millions of undocumented migrants in the country.

Kemp, taking aim at President Biden’s border security actions, argued that “the policies are outrageous. They’ve gotten people killed not only in Georgia but around the country and that’s why our people elected Donald Trump to be our president, or at least a big reason for that. So we look forward to working with the administration like we did in their first term to secure the border and make sure these things aren’t happening in our local communities.”

And Kemp emphasized that “it is just literally heartbreaking for this family, for her fellow students that she was in school with, for her friends, for local communities and really for the whole state.”

Kemp was interviewed by Fox News Digital in Marco Island, Florida, minutes after he was elected chair of the Republican Governors Association. 

Senate Republicans are preparing to probe Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on his pro-choice stance after the former presidential candidate was selected by President-elect Trump to be his nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services. 

Kennedy, a former Democrat, has concerned a number of Senate Republicans over his espoused views on abortion. His former presidential campaign reportedly said he believed it “should be left up to the woman and her doctor.” 

Over the summer, Kennedy shared a video on social media, writing in a post, “I support the emerging consensus that abortion should be unrestricted up until a certain point.” 

He suggested that this limit should be “when the baby is viable outside the womb.” Viability is understood to occur around 24 weeks gestation. 

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Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., a staunch pro-life advocate, told Fox News Digital, “It’ll come up in the hearing 100%. There’s no question that this will be an issue. I will raise it if no one else does.” 

He explained that his office is compiling a list of “all of the things that the first Trump administration did for life through HHS, because they were very active in that area.” 

RICK SCOTT OUTLINES CONSENSUS FOR ‘DRAMATIC CHANGE’ TO SENATE OPERATION IN POST-MCCONNELL ERA

Lankford pointed to HHS’ work when it came to conscience protections for abortion and taking on Planned Parenthood as examples. 

“There’s a lot of things that they did during the first Trump administration through HHS. So, we’re compiling that list, and that’ll definitely be my list of questions,” he said. 

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said, “There’s several questions I want to talk to him about.”

He explained he wanted to see exactly what RFK Jr.’s position is — “How far? What month?”

MATT GAETZ ‘WORKING THE PHONES,’ SPEAKING TO GOP SENATORS DESPITE DIFFICULT CONFIRMATION ODDS

HELP committee ranking member Bill Cassidy, R-La., said, “We’ll do our due diligence, but I’m sure somebody will ask that. How could they not?” 

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told Fox News Digital abortion was a concern of his when it comes to RFK Jr.

While several Republicans are wary about Trump’s pick for HHS, some expressed confidence that he would act in line with the administration. 

SENATE GOP INITIATES THUNE-ENGINEERED SLOW DOWN AS SCHUMER LOOKS TO STACK JUDICIAL VOTES

“I would fully expect any of Trump’s nominees to be pro-life, as is President Trump,” said Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C.

But, he said, “It does need to be addressed.”

“I believe what he’s going to do is do the right thing,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said of RFK Jr.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News Digital “he’ll be asked a question, and we’ll see how he answers. And we’ll take it from there.”

Katie Miller, a Trump-Vance transition spokesperson, told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Mr. Kennedy has every intention of supporting President Trump’s agenda to the fullest extent. This is President Trump’s administration that Robert F. Kennedy has been asked to serve in, and he will carry out the policies Americans overwhelmingly voted for in President Trump’s historic victory.” 

The concerns aired by Senate Republicans come as some conservative and pro-life groups have already sounded the alarm bell on the HHS pick. 

“I believe the nomination of RFK Jr. to serve as secretary of HHS is an abrupt departure from the pro-life record of our administration and should be deeply concerning to millions of pro-life Americans who have supported the Republican Party and our nominees for decades,” former Vice President Mike Pence said in a statement from his organization, Advancing American Freedom, last week.

The president of top pro-life group Susan B. Anthony Pro Life America, Marjorie Dannenfelser, expressed her own worry, saying in a statement, “There’s no question that we need a pro-life HHS secretary, and, of course, we have concerns about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”

But she signaled confidence in Trump’s administration to uphold pro-life values. 

“I believe that no matter who is HHS secretary, baseline policies set by President Trump during his first term will be reestablished,” Dannenfelser said. 

EXCLUSIVE: Two high school cross-country runners and their families are suing a California school district, alleging their “Save Girls Sports” T-shirts were likened to a swastika.

Plaintiffs Kaitlyn and Taylor, two athletes at Martin Luther King High School in ninth and eleventh grade, respectively, wore T-shirts bearing the messages “Save Girls’ Sports” and “It’s Common Sense. XX ≠ XY.” 

The girls wore the shirts after a transgender athlete, who didn’t consistently attend practices or meet key varsity eligibility requirements, was placed on the varsity team, displacing Taylor from her spot, the complaint alleged.

“My initial reaction was like, I was really surprised, because it was like, why is this happening to me?” Taylor told Fox News Digital. “There’s a transgender student on the team. Why am I getting displaced when I worked so hard and gone to all of the practices, and this student has only attended a few of the practices.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Athletic department school officials allegedly forced the students to remove or conceal the shirts, claiming they created a “hostile” environment and comparing wearing these shirts to wearing a swastika in front of Jewish students.

“It was definitely hard to hear because we’re by no means trying to be hateful,” Kaitlyn told Fox News Digital. “We’re just wearing a shirt that expresses what we believe in trying to raise awareness to a situation.”

The transgender athlete, however, has been allegedly allowed to wear “trans pride” bracelets, and the school allows other forms of social messaging around campus, including a LGBTQ pride flag, the complaint noted.

“The biological male transgender athlete who displaced T.S. on the girls’ varsity team had recently transferred from another local high school after breaking that school’s all-time cross-country record for the girls’ cross-country team,” the complaint said.

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“T.S., who had held a position on the girls’ Varsity Top 7 since August 2024 was removed from the girls’ Varsity Top 7 to make room on the girls’ Varsity Top 7 for an eleventh-grade transgender student and T.S. was relegated to the junior varsity team for one of the most important meets of the season for college recruitment,” the complaint said.

According to the girls’ Advocates for Faith and Freedom attorney, Julianne Fleischer, the lawsuit claims there were violations of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and their Title IX protections.

In October, according to the complaint, the district’s Title IX coordinator, Bethany Scott, informed Taylor’s mother of a formal investigation into her complaint. Scott also conveyed that Taylor would not be disadvantaged by running on the junior varsity team at a key upcoming cross-country meet, but her mother argued it would harm her chances of being noticed by college scouts. By Nov. 1, after follow-ups, the district reclassified the Title IX complaint as a confidential personnel matter, claiming it did not meet the criteria for sex-based discrimination.

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Typically, multiple factors, beyond race times, are considered for varsity selection on the cross-country team They complaint alleges that Taylor’s dedication and hard work were overlooked, and the school district failed to provide a clear explanation, forming the basis of the Title IX complaint, Fleisher said.

“We’re seeing more and more women and young girls speak up and challenge these policies that are allowing biological boys to join and participate in these sports,” Fleischer told Fox News Digital. “And so there’s lawsuits that are popping up all around the country. We’re hopeful that even with the incoming administration and Congress that we’re going to see real positive change to Title IX that actually upholds and safeguards the rights of women to participate in their sports and to be safe and to be able to compete amongst one another.”

Under the Biden-Harris administration, Title IX was amended to include discrimination against gender identity and sexual orientation. The Supreme Court ruled against one of Biden’s requests in August that would have permitted biological men in women’s bathrooms, locker rooms and dorms in 10 states where there are state-level and local-level rules in place to prevent it. 

On the campaign trail, President-elect Donald Trump said he would roll back Biden-Harris policies on gender treatments for minors and protect women in sports.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Riverside Unified School District and Martin Luther King High School for comment.

Nearly 200 migrant advocacy groups crafted a letter to President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding they close ICE detention centers and consider releasing detainees ahead of the Trump administration’s plan to reverse current policy. 

The letter, which was also “cc’d” to ICE Deputy Director Patrick Lechleitner and ICE chief of staff Michael Lumpkin, called for “immediate action to protect immigrant communities while [they] still can” before their administration’s term comes to a close.

“In your remaining months in office, you have an opportunity to honor your stated commitments to the dignity and humane treatment of all people, including those who immigrate to our nation…”

Without naming President-elect Trump, the groups warned the next administration is likely to follow “through on his mass deportation plans.”

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The groups warned that the move would separate families and “upend the lives of millions.”

Spearheaded by the Detention Watch Network, the letter included 192 other signatories, including the American Friends Service Committee, Americans for Immigrant Justice, the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law, Human Rights Watch, Make the Road and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

The latter group is run by Kerry Kennedy – not her brother, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

By closing detention centers now, the consortium claims, it will put a stop to alleged “inhumane and abusive conditions” that purportedly include inadequate food and water, negligent medical care and deaths.

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“No one should be detained in these conditions. You [Biden and Mayorkas] promised to end the use of for-profit detention centers by the federal government and with over 90% detained at facilities run by private companies, this is your final chance to follow through on that promise,” the letter reads.

The second of the three prongs is halting detention facility expansion efforts by way of freezing or rescinding RFPs (Requests for Proposal).

The consortium said the incoming Trump administration should not be gifted an expanded system through which to institute their countervailing goals.

“To protect families and prevent separations, you must take all possible action to prevent the incoming administration from being able to easily expand detention capacity, including by pressuring Congress to pass a reduced appropriation for immigration detention.”

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Third, the groups pleaded for release proceedings to begin with “vulnerable populations” like migrants with physical or mental health concerns and those that have been deemed eligible for parole or Temporary Protected Status.

“People can and should be able to go through their immigration proceedings in community with the support of their loved ones and access to legal support.”

“Now is the time to take decisive action to prevent catastrophe for millions of people and avoid handing the keys to an expanded and inhumane detention and deportation system to the next president,” they wrote.

Other officials across the country have also warned against Trump’s immigration policy proposals, with Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson calling Trump a “threat” against “new arrivals and undocumented families… and Black families.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Mayorkas for comment.

The House Ethics Committee has not reached an agreement to release its report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., the panel’s chairman told reporters on Wednesday.

The bipartisan panel met behind closed doors for over two hours. Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., the last to leave the room, said, “There was not an agreement by the committee to release the report.”

Other members who left said little, with Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., telling reporters that deliberations were ongoing but he “can’t discuss” them.

The Wednesday meeting comes the same day that Gaetz is visiting Senate offices on Capitol Hill to kick off the confirmation process to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ).

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The House Ethics Committee’s inquiry into Gaetz abruptly ended last week when he resigned from Congress hours after being named President-elect Trump’s nominee for attorney general.

“Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department,” Trump said in his announcement last Wednesday.

The probe began in 2021 and stems from accusations of illicit drug use and sex with a minor. 

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The DOJ, which Gaetz has been tapped to lead, ultimately did not press charges. Gaetz himself has consistently denied all wrongdoing.

But pressure has been building on the normally secretive ethics panel to release its report, with senators who will be key to Gaetz getting the attorney general role expressing interest in seeing it before making their judgments.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., notably, has said he does not believe the report should be released.

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“The Speaker of the House is not involved with those things. I am reacting to media reports that a report is currently in some draft form and was going to be released on what is now a former member of the House,” Johnson said Friday.

“I do not believe that that is an appropriate thing. It doesn’t follow our rules and traditions and there is a reason for that. That would open up Pandora’s box and I don’t think that’s a healthy thing for the institution, so that’s my position.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., announced he plans to introduce a privileged resolution to force a House vote on releasing the Gaetz report.

“The allegations against Matt Gaetz are serious. They are credible. The House Ethics Committee has spent years conducting a thorough investigation to get to the bottom of it,” Casten said in a statement. “This information must be made available for the Senate to provide its constitutionally required advice and consent.”

President-elect Trump is reportedly considering rolling back the Biden administration’s credit for electric vehicles – a move that experts say would have varying effects across the automotive industry.

President Biden implemented a tax credit of up to $7,500 to incentivize the purchase of greener vehicles. However, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Trump plans to ax the tax credit as part of his sweep of Biden’s climate agenda.

While the decision remains in debate among oil and energy advocates, one group promoting public policy on behalf of the natural gas industry suggested that behind the scenes, automotive groups and consumers could feel relieved if the EV credit is eliminated.

“Losing $70,000 on an EV is not a winning business model and U.S. automakers know that,” said Tim Stewart, president of the U.S. Oil & Gas Association. Stewart said axing the EV tax credit gives members of the auto industry the opportunity to shift back to traditional production lines.

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“If I was a CEO, I would quietly be relieved to have a reason to shift production lines back to traditional models and invest in new hybrid technologies,” Stewart told Fox News Digital. “The EV tax credit was the only way to entice consumers to ‘maybe’ purchase something they really didn’t want, but told by the Biden folks they had to buy.” 

“With the tax credit gone and the onerous Biden regulatory mandates lifted, the new administration is providing the exit ramp the U.S. producers were really hoping for, and U.S. consumers really want.”

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However, proponents of the tax credit, such as Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm – and those advocating for the switch to EVs – say its elimination would result in the U.S. being less competitive in the industry.

“The auto industry is investing billions of dollars in EV battery and EV manufacturing in the United States. Eliminating the tax credit will hurt the U.S. auto industry and make American manufacturers less globally competitive,” said Ingrid Malmgren, senior policy director of Plug In America, a Los-Angeles based nonprofit advocating for the transition to EVs.

The elimination of the tax credit could have differing effects across the auto industry, experts say.

One of Trump’s strongest allies, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, revealed in July that he supports getting rid of the credit. “Take away the subsidies,” Musk posted to X, saying “it will only help Tesla.”

Companies that are financially sound, such as Tesla, could benefit if the playing field for electric vehicles is narrowed, while the smaller companies that rely on the tax credit for consumer affordability could face setbacks, analysts suggest.

“Tesla has such a big cost advantage in EVs,” said David Whiston, an analyst at financial services firm Morningstar Inc, according to a report from CPA Practicing Advisor. “Getting rid of that tax credit wouldn’t necessarily hurt them.”

Dan Ives, a senior equity research analyst covering the technology sector at Wedbush Securities with a focus on EVs, conducted a review of the market impact on Tesla if the EV credit is removed.

“While this is a clear negative for the EV industry at first look and would particularly hurt GM, Ford, Stellantis, and Rivian… on the flip side, we view this as a net bullish move for Tesla and Musk over time,” Ives said in a report on Tesla. “We expect Musk to have a big seat at the table as these EV discussions happen within the Trump transition team.”

“In line with our thoughts over the past few weeks, Tesla has a scale and scope that is unmatched and while losing the EV tax credit could also hurt some demand on the margins in the U.S., this will enable Tesla to further fend off competition from Detroit as pricing/scale/scope is apples to oranges when compared to the rest of the auto industry once the EV tax credit disappears,” Ives added.

Ives also said that removing the credit could slow down the shift toward EVs in Detroit, specifically.

During his campaign, Trump highlighted his intent to target Biden’s clean energy-driven initiatives, such as vowing to “cancel the electric vehicle mandate.” 

Oklahoma’s Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt says his state is creating a plan to deport criminal illegal immigrants who are in custody in state prisons, in a boost to President-elect Trump’s proposal to conduct a mass deportation operation next year.

Stitt announced that he is directing the state’s commissioner of public safety to lead the effort to expel inmates in Oklahoma prisons who are in the country illegally, by creating a plan to deal with them. That plan will be delivered by January, and the state says it will consult with the Trump transition team and incoming administration to implement it.

Stitt downplayed the complexity of the effort, saying it was “common sense and restoring Oklahoma to the rule of law,” while speaking to Fox News Digital.

‘100% ON BOARD:’ BORDER STATE OFFERS TRUMP MASSIVE PLOT OF LAND TO AID MASS DEPORTATION OPERATION

“So these are people that are here illegally, that have committed crimes, and we want to make sure that they’re not burdensome to the taxpayers of the state of Oklahoma,” he said.

The state says there are more than 500 criminal illegal immigrants in Oklahoma’s correctional facilities, and it costs taxpayers $36,000 a day to house them. 

Trump has promised to launch the operation next year, sparking opposition from some Democrats in “sanctuary” jurisdictions and elsewhere. His incoming border czar, Tom Homan, has said the priority will be public safety and national security threats, but no one is off the table.

Stitt said he is surprised by the opposition from some Democrats, given the focus is on removing criminals from the country.

“What’s amazing to me is you have some Democrat governors that are now talking about not supporting President Trump, and I don’t think they learned anything from the election, that the American people want safe communities, and we want to have strong borders,” he said.

‘SANCTUARY’ CITY MAYOR VOWS SHE WILL DEFY TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION PUSH: ‘CAUSING WIDESPREAD FEAR’

“When you think about someone that’s here illegally, that’s breaking the law, that’s pushing fentanyl, or they have been convicted of rape or burglary, and they’re not U.S. citizens, and they’re here illegally. I don’t know who could argue with me on ‘We want to make sure that those people are out of our country and not allowed to return,’” he said.

Oklahoma isn’t a border state, but Stitt says it has still been affected like every other state by the historic crisis at the southern border. He said fentanyl deaths are up 500% since he took office. He also noted the recent foiled Election Day terror plot; the suspect was living in Oklahoma.

Stitt stressed that he isn’t against immigration more broadly.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS

“If you’re at the University of Oklahoma on a education visa, we certainly want to be able to convert that to a workforce visa if we have an employer that needs that job, and if you want to chase the American dream, if you want to be part of paying taxes, part of our society, then we absolutely want to work that angle as well,” he said.

He said there is now optimism in the U.S., and he believes there is enthusiasm about the prospect of being able to make communities safer across the U.S.

“I think the American people have spoken loud and clear with Trump’s victory that they believe in safe communities. And so I think it’s, I think it’s just the right thing to do, and I’m excited about some of the Cabinet picks that President Trump has put in place, and it’s going to be, it’s going to be a fresh day for America,” he said.