The first bill addressing illegal immigration passed on Tuesday, Jan. 7, with Congress approving the Laken Riley Act. The Laken Riley Act would require the Department of Homeland Security to take into custody undocumented immigrants who have been charged with theft and other crimes. The legislation is named after Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered by an undocumented Venezuelan immigrant last year. A judge convicted the man, Jose Ibarra, on murder and other charges related to Riley’s death in November.
“Laken Riley was brutally murdered by an illegal alien that President Biden and the Democrats let into this country with their open border policy,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement after the vote. “It is hard to believe after countless horrific stories like Laken’s, any House Democrats would vote against deporting illegal aliens who commit violent crimes against American citizens.
The Republican Party overwhelmingly voted for the bill 264-159. The Democratic Party had 49 votes supporting the bill. “The only thing President Biden did after Laken’s tragic death was apologize for calling her murderer an illegal,” Johnson said ahead of the vote. “That’s outrageous. We all know the real victim here was young Laken. There are real consequences to policy decisions. This one was deadly.”
President Biden’s Open-Door policy at the border has brought mixed reviews and extreme reactions on both sides, but with Trump in office, people expect radical changes to border policy. “House Republicans heard the voices of those who wanted change and voted to pass the Laken Riley Act,” Johnson said Tuesday. “We will always fight to protect Americans, and today’s success is just the beginning of Republican efforts to undo the catastrophic damage caused by years of the Democrats’ failed leadership.”
The bill was introduced by Georgia Rep. Mike Collins, a Republican, blaming Riley’s death on President Biden. The bill grants power to attorneys general to sue the federal government if they can show their states are being harmed over failure to implement national immigration policies. The measure also allows states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to citizens allegedly due to illegal immigration.