The Laken Riley Act would make it easier for federal immigration officials to detain and deport those without legal status who are charged with specific crimes.
From left, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., talk to reporters about the Laken Riley Act, a bill to detain unauthorized immigrants who have been accused of certain crimes, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 9.
"It's a snapshot of how much the needle has been moved by the anti-immigrant rhetoric of immigrants committing crimes, even though the statistics don't show that," said Marielena Hincapié, distinguished immigration visiting scholar at Cornell Law School."Both Democrats and Republicans are reacting to that narrative and to the election results."
But Democrats quickly tacked to the right on the issue after Trump's electoral victory and sweep of battleground states, including Pennsylvania. That state's Democratic Sen. John Fetterman"This bill will not accomplish its stated goal," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., ranking member of Senate Judiciary Committee, following Senate passage."I'm genuinely disappointed in the passage of this bill as it stands and deeply concerned about how it will be implemented.
The agency also warned in a December memo that they would need additional ICE officers and predicted facing barriers with local jurisdictions such as state and local enforcement that might not cooperate. It also made clear that there might be a shortage of detention space to house offenders.
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