The Senate is heading toward a final vote on legislation that would give states the power to challenge federal immigration policies.
Newly in the majority, Senate Republicans have made the so-called Laken Riley Act — named after a Georgia student who was killed last year by a Venezuelan man — a top priorityand require federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft and violent crimes, setting a new tone on immigration asOn Friday, it cleared a key procedural hurdle 61-35, with 10 Democrats voting with Republicans to advance it to a final vote.
Once Trump enters office and attempts to set up large-scale deportation operations, congressional Republicans will face intense pressure to pay for his priorities while also balancing their pledges to tame budget deficits and concerns about the economic, as well as humanitarian, impacts of mass deportations.
Democrats, meanwhile, are searching for a path forward on their approach to immigration. The party is divided between those who now prioritize restrictions on illegal immigration and those who argue the party should also champion help for migrants who are already here or who are seeking relief from violence or persecution in their home countries.“We Democrats want to see our broken immigration system fixed,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
He criticized the Laken Riley Act because it would require immigration authorities to give priority to detaining migrants accused or convicted of crimes like shoplifting, but potentially force authorities to release others convicted of more serious crimes. Murphy said it would just “make the system more convoluted and more chaotic.”
Trump in the campaign repeatedly raised the issue of crimes committed by migrants, but there is no evidence that immigrants are more prone to violent crime. Several studies have found immigrants commit lower rates of crime than those born in the U.S. Groups that advocate for restrictive immigration policies dispute or dismiss those findings.
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