Washington — The House approved its first policy legislation of the new Congress on Tuesday with a bill aimed at addressing illegal immigration.
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 for 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.
“As promised, we’re starting today with border security,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said ahead of the vote Tuesday, adding that lawmakers have “a lot to do there to fix it” and noting that the Laken Riley Act “is a big part of that.”
In a 264 to 159 vote, the House approved the measure, with all voting Republicans and 48 Democrats supporting its passage.
The legislation also includes a provision that would empower state attorneys general who claim their state or its residents have been harmed by immigration policies to sue the Department of Homeland Security.
The House approved the legislation in March, with 37 House Democrats joining Republicans in support of its passage. But the bill stalled in the then-Democratic-controlled Senate.
Johnson encouraged more Democrats to join Republicans this time around, saying the vote would be “telling.”
Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images
“We’re going to detain and deport illegal aliens who commit burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, certainly vicious and violent crimes, and I can’t believe anybody would be opposed to that,” Johnson said.
Riley’s story became a rallying cry for the GOP during the lead-up to the 2024 election, while Democrats accused Republicans of using her death for political purposes.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, said ahead of the vote Tuesday that “the murder of Laken Riley was an unspeakable and appalling crime,” but he called the bill “an empty and opportunistic measure.” Raskin said the legislation “fails to address any of the real issues at stake,” while criticizing Republicans for walking away from a bipartisan border security deal last year when President-elect Donald Trump “aggressively tanked” the legislation.
The Maryland Democrat argued that the bill would upend decades of policy by requiring that an undocumented immigrant be detained “even if they are never convicted or even charged with a crime,” calling it a “radical departure” from current law.
Still, this time around, the bill is seeing more bipartisan support. Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania became the first Senate Democrat to sign on as a cosponsor in the GOP-controlled upper chamber this week, where a vote is expected on Friday.
“Laken Riley’s story is a tragic reminder of what’s at stake when our systems fail to protect people,” Fetterman said in a statement, noting that while he says immigration “makes our country great,” he’s supportive of giving authorities tools to “prevent tragedies like this one while we work on comprehensive solutions to our broken system.”
Republicans have pledged to make border security a key priority as they prepare to hold a GOP trifecta in Washington when Trump returns to the White House later this month.
