Senate to take up Laken Riley Act immigration bill

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - The Senate is expected to take up an immigration bill on Thursday that would require the detention of undocumented immigrants who are charged with certain crimes.

The bill, the Laken Riley Act, is advancing after it passed in the House on Tuesday. It is named after a Georgia college student who was murdered last year by an undocumented immigrant.

It would require the Department of Homeland Security to detain undocumented immigrants who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.

“If this had been in place, Laken Riley would still be alive,” said Sen. Katie Britt, (R-AL), who introduced the bill in the Senate. “Because if you think about Laken Riley’s killer, he was arrested not just once, he was arrested twice. He was arrested in New York. He was arrested in Georgia. If he had been detained either time, she would still be with us.”

This is the second time the Senate is taking up the bill after it failed last year. But unlike then, Republicans now hold the majority in the chamber. They have vowed to help deliver on border security policy promises that both they and President-elect Donald Trump made in 2024.

“I think it’s only appropriate, given the disaster of last four years with the open border policies of the Biden administration, to emphasize the fact that people who come to the country illegally, who have no right to be here in the first place, and particularly those who further abuse, the hospitality, so to speak, of the American people by committing other crimes, ought to be among the first in line to be deported,” said Sen. John Cornyn, (R-TX).

All 52 Senate Republican are co-sponsors of the bill along with Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA). Seven more Democrats would need to vote for it to overcome a filibuster. Some of them have already signaled they will support it.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said he would like to see some amendments to the bill.

“If the Republicans are setting out to stop those who came in the country illegally from doing violent criminal acts, I’ll be with them 100%. But included in this bill is a penalty for shoplifting. That, to me, is, not exactly in the same league as the other concerns we share,” said Sen. Durbin.

Some immigration groups are concerned that provisions in the legislation would give state attorneys general the power to dictate federal immigration policy.

“This law would essentially empower a single district court judge in Texas to create an international incident with China or India or any major trading partner,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Senior Fellow at American Immigration Council. “I think that’s a very big concern. Even if you do agree with the detention provisions of the law.”

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