John Jefferson
The Republican Party’s Laken Riley Act is heading to President Donald Trump’s desk to become the first bill he signs into law after the party retook both chambers of Congress and the White House.
The House of Representatives passed the bill in a 263 to 156 vote on Wednesday, the second time the lower chamber advanced the bill this month.
It passed the House 264 to 159 on Jan. 7. All voting Republicans supported the bill, along with 48 Democrats – two more than the most recent vote.
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The GOP-controlled Senate also advanced the bill in a bipartisan 64 to 35 vote, but added measures to deport illegal immigrants who assault a police officer or cause death or “serious bodily injury” of another person.
The original bill would direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to detain illegal immigrants accused of theft-related crimes. It also would allow states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration.
The majority of Democrats were against the bill, arguing that allowing people accused but not convicted of crimes to be deported is a slippery slope. But supporters of the bill point out that people here illegally have already run afoul of U.S. law.
It’s notable, however, that more Democrats supported the bill when it passed the House this month than when it first came up for a vote in 2024. It’s a marked difference from last year when the then-Democrat-controlled Senate did not even take up the bill for a vote.
“Nothing ever happens in this town up 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 have been screaming at the top of their lungs for something to happen to fix the border problem.”
Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, who led Sarah’s Law, one of the amendments adopted 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 while drunk…Sarah’s Law not only delivered justice for the Root family but also ensures that any illegal immigrant who harms or kills an American citizen is swiftly detained and prosecuted.”
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GOP lawmakers are working to follow through on Trump’s promises to crack down on illegal immigration and border security amid a flurry of executive orders from the president on those same issues. They’re positioning the Laken Riley Act as the first bill to get Trump’s signature as a reflection of their effort to make his agenda permanent.
The bill is named after a nursing student who was killed by an illegal immigrant while jogging on the University of Georgia’s campus.
Jose Ibarra, who was sentenced to life in prison for Laken Riley’s murder, had previously been arrested but was never detained by ICE.
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