Washington — The House accredited its first coverage laws of the brand new Congress on Tuesday with a invoice geared toward addressing unlawful immigration.
The Laken Riley Act would require the Department of Homeland Security to take into custody undocumented immigrants who’ve been charged with theft and different crimes. The laws is called for Riley, a 22-year-old nursing scholar who was murdered by an undocumented Venezuelan immigrant final yr. A choose convicted the person, Jose Ibarra, on homicide and different expenses associated to Riley’s loss of life in November.
“As promised, we’re beginning at the moment with border safety,” House Speaker Mike Johnson mentioned forward of the vote Tuesday, including that lawmakers have “so much to do there to repair it” and noting that the Laken Riley Act “is an enormous a part of that.”
In a 264 to 159 vote, the House accredited the measure, with all voting Republicans and 48 Democrats supporting its passage.
The laws additionally features a provision that might empower state attorneys normal who declare their state or its residents have been harmed by immigration insurance policies to sue the Department of Homeland Security.
The House accredited the laws in March, with 37 House Democrats becoming a member of Republicans in assist of its passage. But the invoice stalled within the then-Democratic-controlled Senate.
Johnson inspired extra Democrats to hitch Republicans this time round, saying the vote could be “telling.”
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“We’re going to detain and deport unlawful aliens who commit housebreaking, theft, larceny, shoplifting, definitely vicious and violent crimes, and I can not imagine anyone could be against that,” Johnson mentioned.
Riley’s story turned a rallying cry for the GOP throughout the lead-up to the 2024 election, whereas Democrats accused Republicans of utilizing her loss of life for political functions.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, mentioned forward of the vote Tuesday that “the homicide of Laken Riley was an unspeakable and appalling crime,” however he known as the invoice “an empty and opportunistic measure.” Raskin mentioned the laws “fails to handle any of the true points at stake,” whereas criticizing Republicans for strolling away from a bipartisan border safety deal final yr when President-elect Donald Trump “aggressively tanked” the laws.
The Maryland Democrat argued that the invoice would upend many years of coverage by requiring that an undocumented immigrant be detained “even when they’re by no means convicted and even charged with a criminal offense,” calling it a “radical departure” from present regulation.
Still, this time round, the invoice is seeing extra bipartisan assist. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania turned the primary Senate Democrat to signal on as a cosponsor within the GOP-controlled higher chamber this week, the place a vote is anticipated on Friday.
“Laken Riley’s story is a tragic reminder of what is at stake when our methods fail to guard folks,” Fetterman mentioned in a press release, noting that whereas he says immigration “makes our nation nice,” he is supportive of giving authorities instruments to “forestall tragedies like this one whereas we work on complete options to our damaged system.”
Republicans have pledged to make border safety a key precedence as they put together to carry a GOP trifecta in Washington when Trump returns to the White House later this month.
