House Again Passes Laken Riley Act; 159 Dems Vote Against It

On Tuesday, the GOP-led House of Representatives once again passed the “Laken Riley Act,” a bill that would require federal officials to arrest illegal immigrants who have been charged with theft-related crimes in the United States.

Forty-eight Democrats joined with 216 Republicans in voting for the bill, which had previously been approved by the lower chamber in March of last year. This time around, 159 Democrats opposed it, compared to 170 in the earlier vote.

These “no” votes showed that some Democrats “ignored” voters who “demanded secure borders, the deportation of violent illegal aliens, and laws that put the safety and security of the American people first,” said Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

The legislation was named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed last year. A 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela, Jose Ibarra, was convicted of murdering Riley and sentenced to life in prison.

In addition to directing the secretary of Homeland Security to detain aliens charged in the U.S. with theft crimes, the bill would allow states to sue federal officials for “injunctive relief” if certain immigration actions or policies harm their citizens.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) argued during a debate on Tuesday that lawmakers were trying to “score cheap political points off of a tragic death” with a bill that “unfairly sweeps up many more innocent lives with no due process.”

A press release from Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who last week reintroduced the Laken Riley Act for the new session of Congress, said that the bill “directly addresses one of the federal policy failures” related to Riley’s murder.

Ibarra “is an illegal alien who had been previously cited for shoplifting by the Athens Police Department,” it said. “If local law enforcement had called ICE, and ICE issued a detainer and picked him up, Laken would be alive.”

The Senate did not take up the Laken Riley Act for a vote when it was in control of the Democrats. Now, with Republicans back in command, a Senate version has been reintroduced. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) is even a co-sponsor.

“Laken Riley’s story is a tragic reminder of what’s at stake when our systems fail to protect people. No family should have to endure the pain of losing a loved one to preventable violence,” Fetterman said in a statement.