The House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act on Wednesday, sending it to President Donald Trump for his signature. The bill, named after a nursing student murdered by an illegal immigrant, strengthens immigration enforcement by mandating the detention of illegal aliens charged with serious crimes. It also requires ICE to notify victims' families when encountering such individuals.
The House on Wednesday passed the Laken Riley Act, sending the bill to the White House to be signed into law by President Donald Trump , marking it as his first legislative act. The Laken Riley Act was named after 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, who was tragically murdered in Athens, Georgia, by an illegal immigrant already released into the United States.
House Republicans initially passed the bill in early January, securing unanimous support from their party members with 48 House Democrats also backing the legislation. The bill then moved to the Senate, where it was passed on Monday by a vote of 64 to 35, just hours after Trump's inauguration. This marked a significant shift from the previous year, when Senate Democrats twice blocked the bill from even reaching the Senate floor for a vote. The Senate strengthened the House-passed Laken Riley Act with two amendments. The first amendment, proposed by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), adds assault of a law enforcement officer to the list of crimes that would trigger detention. The second amendment, known as Sarah's Law, is Senator Joni Ernst's (R-IA) proposal, introduced as the country approaches the ninth anniversary of the death of 21-year-old Iowan Sarah Root, who was killed by a drunk driving illegal immigrant. This bill would amend the mandatory detention provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act to require the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to detain illegal aliens facing criminal charges related to killing or seriously injuring another person. It also mandates that when encountering an illegal alien subject to mandatory detention, ICE must identify victims and inform their families.'Our laws will no longer prioritize dangerous criminal illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens. Nearly nine years to the day when 21-year-old Iowan Sarah Root was killed, the Senate has passed Sarah’s Law in her honor to close the loophole that allowed her killer to escape justice,' stated Ernst. 'Today, Republicans and Democrats put partisan politics aside to save lives and reform a broken system that has failed American citizens across the country,' said Representative Mike Collins (R-GA), the House sponsor of the bill, in a statement following the vote. He added, 'The Laken Riley Act is bipartisan legislation that fixes a bipartisan problem, and I am proud that the country has come together to ensure that no family must live through the pain that an illegal immigrant has caused Riley’s. Laken Riley was in school to save lives, and although her opportunities were taken away, her name will live on as this bill prevents deaths like hers.' Senator Katie Britt (R-AL), the Senate sponsor of the bill, expressed her satisfaction in a written statement following the Senate's passage of the legislation, saying, 'Today is a new day in America and a new day in the U.S. Senate with the passage of the Laken Riley Act—which will become the strongest immigration enforcement bill enacted into law since 1996. I was honored to lead a bipartisan group of my colleagues to pass this lifesaving legislation.
IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION DONALD TRUMP HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Laken RILEY ACT SARAH's LAW ICE CRIMINAL DETENTION
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