| Supporters of former US President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald
Trump hold images of Laken Riley before he speaks at a “Get Out the
Vote” rally in Rome, Georgia, on March 9, 2024. On Tuesday afternoon, the Laken Riley Act was passed by the House of Representatives. It was the first piece of federal legislation approved by the new 119th Congress after the House agreed to its rules for the term.
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All Republicans supported the bill, along with 48 other Democrats. It
passed on a 264 to 159 margin and will now be sent to the Senate.
The bill was named after 22-year-old Laken Riley.
Riley was a nursing student that was brutally murdered by an illegal
immigrant from Venezuela while she was jogging one morning on the
University of Georgia’s campus.
The details of the bill would require federal immigration authorities
to detain illegal aliens found guilty of burglary, theft, larceny, or
shoplifting crimes. It would also allow states to sue the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS) for harm caused to their citizens due to illegal
immigration, forcing the federal agency to take these matters more
seriously.
The legislation breaks down what changes will occur.
“DHS must detain an individual who (1) is unlawfully present in the
United States or did not possess the necessary documents when applying
for admission; and (2) has been charged with, arrested for, convicted
for, or admits to having committed acts that constitute the essential
elements of burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. The bill also
authorizes state governments to sue for injunctive relief over certain
immigration-related decisions or alleged failures by the federal
government if the decision or failure caused the state or its residents
harm, including financial harm of more than $100. Specifically, the
state government may sue the federal government over a decision to
release a non-U.S. national from custody; failure to fulfill
requirements relating to inspecting individuals seeking admission into
the United States, including requirements related to asylum interviews;
failure to fulfill a requirement to stop issuing visas to nationals of a
country that unreasonably denies or delays acceptance of nationals of
that country; violation of limitations on immigration parole, such as
the requirement that parole be granted only on a case-by-case basis; or
failure to detain an individual who has been ordered removed from the
United States.”
Jose Ibarra, who was sentenced to life in prison for Riley’s tragic
murder, was previously arrested but was never detained by Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, the agency previously admitted.
The passing of the new bill comes after it was first introduced last year by Representative Mike Collins (R-Ga.).
At the time, all of the “no” votes on the bill came from Democrat officials.
“I think they put politics ahead of principle. And we’re going to
find out where they stand on this now,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson
(R-La.) in regards to the Democrats who opposed it last year.
“We have every intention of doing, really important, bipartisan
work,” Johnson said hours before the vote on Tuesday. “We welcome with
open arms any Democrat who wants to help us solve these problems because
the American people demand and deserve it, it’s overdue. And, we’ll be
looking for that and we’ll see how it shakes out.”
The Senate will vote on the bill this week.
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