Senate Advances Laken Riley Act with 84 Votes, Amid Bipartisan Support and Deportation Concerns

Jan 13, 2025, 04:33 PM

The U.S. Senate is actively debating the Laken Riley Act, a piece of legislation aimed at enhancing immigration enforcement, which has already passed the House. The bill, named after Laken Riley, a nursing student murdered by an undocumented immigrant, seeks to mandate the detention of undocumented immigrants for theft-related crimes such as shoplifting. It also proposes to empower state attorneys general to sue the federal government for failing to enforce immigration laws effectively. The Senate cleared an initial procedural hurdle with 84 votes, requiring 60 votes to move forward, despite opposition from 9 Democrats. Senator Katie Britt reintroduced the bill in the Senate. Some Democrats have expressed concerns that the bill could lead to indefinite detention of migrants and mass deportation, with Representative Pramila Jayapal calling it a 'highway to mass deportation'. Additionally, ICE has warned that the Act could lead to the release of detained immigrants.