House Approves the Laken Riley Act

The House of Representatives has approved the Laken Riley Act with a vote of 264–159. A near-unanimous bloc of Republicans, along with 48 Democrats, banded together to advance the bill through the lower chamber of Congress.

This legislation compels the Department of Homeland Security to detain illegal immigrants who have committed specific crimes, including theft, burglary, or shoplifting.

It also permits states to take legal action against the federal government for injunctive relief regarding “certain immigration-related decisions or alleged failures” that have caused harm to that state.

Examples of such failures could be not detaining an individual previously ordered for deportation or not meeting vetting requirements for immigrants wishing to enter the United States.

“The heartbreaking and preventable murder of Laken Riley highlights the repercussions of ineffective leadership,” said Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) during a press briefing ahead of the vote.

“The Laken Riley Act represents a decisive step toward ensuring that criminal illegal aliens are quickly and permanently removed from our communities and our nation,”

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The bill had previously cleared the House last year but was never presented to the Senate floor. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) pointed out that 170 House Democrats had voted against the bill’s passage at that time, expressing his belief that they had placed “politics over principle.”

Democrats who opposed the bill during today’s congressional debate criticized it as being overly broad, stating that it could unjustly affect illegal immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for many years.

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

Raskin also raised concerns about the legal provisions allowing states to sue the federal government, arguing that such measures violate the Supreme Court’s ruling in the U.S. v. Texas case, which ruled that states lack the standing to initiate lawsuits over federal policy implementation.

In response, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) contended that the Supreme Court’s majority opinion, authored by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, indicated that such legal actions would require legislative change, adding, “That is precisely what this bill accomplishes, by the book.”

Just prior to the House vote, Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) introduced the corresponding Senate bill, which is expected to pass given the GOP’s 53–47 majority in the upper chamber.

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

The Laken Riley Act is named after a 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia who was assaulted and killed in February 2024 during a morning jog near the University of Georgia campus.

The perpetrator, Jose Antonio Ibarra, had entered the United States unlawfully and had been arrested and released multiple times for theft prior to being apprehended for the murder after surveillance video captured him discarding a jacket with strands of Riley’s hair near his apartment.

On Nov. 20, 2024, Ibarra was found guilty on 10 counts, including murder and aggravated assault with intent to rape, receiving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Riley’s murder also propelled state legislation aimed at increasing Georgia’s measures against illegal immigrants, which was signed into law by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on May 1, 2024.