The Republican Party’s Laken Riley Act is coming to the President Donald Trump’s office to become the first bill he signs after the party retook both chambers of Congress and the White House.
The House of Representatives passed the bill on Wednesday by a vote of 263 to 156, the second time this month that the House of Representatives has advanced the bill.
On January 7, it passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 264 to 159. All voting Republicans supported the bill, along with 48 Democrats — two more than the most recent vote.
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Trump is expected to sign the Laken Riley Act into law as the first legislation of his new term. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
The GOP-controlled Senate The bill also advanced on a 64-35 vote, but added measures to deport illegal immigrants who attack a police officer or cause the death or “serious bodily harm” of another person.
The original bill would direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to detain illegal immigrants accused of theft-related crimes. It would also allow states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm done to their citizens as a result of illegal immigration.
The majority of Democrats opposed the bill, arguing that allowing deportation of people accused but not convicted of crimes is a slippery slope. But supporters of the bill point out that people here illegally are already in violation of U.S. law.
Jose Ibarra, left, was found guilty on 10 counts in the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, right. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
However, it is notable that more Democrats supported the bill when it passed the House of Representatives this month than when it first came to a vote in 2024. It’s a marked difference from last year, when the then Democratic-controlled Senate didn’t even take up the bill. the bill for a vote.
“Nothing ever happens in this city here until the American people demand it,” the bill’s leader, Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital when asked about the increased support from the left.
“And they shouted at the top of their lungs that something would be done to solve the border problem.”
Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, who led Sarah’s Law, one of the amendments passed in the bill, told Fox News Digital: “Nearly a decade ago, 21-year-old Sarah Root’s life was tragically cut short when she was killed by an illegal immigrant who was driving drunk… Sarah’s law not only brought justice to the Root family, but also ensures that any illegal immigrant who harms or kills a U.S. citizen is swiftly detained. and continued.
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Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., led the bill in the House. (Bill Clark)
GOP lawmakers are busy following on Trump’s promises to crack down on illegal immigration and border security, amid a flurry of executive orders from the president on the same issues. They are positioning the Laken Riley Act as the first bill to get Trump’s signature, reflecting their efforts to make his agenda permanent.
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The bill is named after a nursing student who was killed by an illegal immigrant while jogging on the University of Georgia campus.
Jose Ibarra, who was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Laken Riley, had previously been arrested but was never detained by ICE.
