159 Democrats Voted Against Laken Riley Bill To Detain Criminal Illegals

Authored by Stacey Robinson via The Epoch Times,

The House of Representatives has passed the Laken Riley Act with a vote of 264–159. Almost all Republicans and 48 Democrats united to push the bill through the lower chamber of Congress.

The legislation requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain illegal immigrants who have committed certain crimes, such as theft, burglary, or shoplifting.

It also allows states to sue the federal government for injunctive relief over “certain immigration-related decisions or alleged failures” if they resulted in harm to that state.

These can include the failure to detain an individual who has already been ordered to be deported, or neglecting to fulfill vetting requirements for immigrants seeking to enter the United States.

“The tragic and preventable murder of Laken Riley serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of failed leadership,” Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said at a press conference before the vote.

“The Laken Riley Act is a direct step toward ensuring that criminal illegal aliens are swiftly and permanently removed from our communities and our country,”

The bill passed the House last year but was never brought to the floor by the Senate. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) noted that 170 House Democrats had voted against the passage of the bill at that time, saying he felt they had “put politics ahead of principle.”

Democrats opposing the bill on the floor of Congress today called the bill overbroad and likely to sweep up illegal immigrants who are wrongly arrested, even if they have lived in the United States for years.

“This is a radical departure from current law, which since 1996 has generally required mandatory detention only for persons who are criminally convicted or who admit to having committed certain serious crimes,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said. 

Raskin also objected to stipulations allowing suit of the government, saying that approach violates the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the U.S. v. Texas case, which said states have no standing to bring legal actions over federal implementation of public policy.

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) countered that the High Court’s majority decision, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, said that such suits would require a change in law.

“That is exactly what this bill does, by the book,” he said.

Shortly before the House vote, Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) introduced the companion Senate bill, which is likely to pass as the GOP holds a 53–47 majority in the upper chamber.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told reporters on Jan 7 that Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is eager to push for a vote on the bill in the Senate “as early as this week.”

The Laken Riley Act draws its name from a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was assaulted and murdered in February 2024 while out for a morning run near the University of Georgia campus.

The murderer, Jose Antonio Ibarra, had come into the United States illegally and had been arrested and released multiple times for theft. He was arrested for the murder after surveillance footage showed him throwing a jacket containing strands of Riley’s hair into a dumpster near his apartment.

On Nov. 20, 2024, Ibarra was convicted on 10 counts including murder and aggravated assault with intent to rape. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Riley’s murder also resulted in a push for state legislation tightening Georgia’s laws against illegal immigrants, which Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law on May 1, 2024.

That law, known as Track and Report, requires authorities to verify the immigration status of any individual over the age of 18 if they are arrested or detained on suspicion of having committed a crime.