Laken Riley Act Passes Senate

The Laken Riley Act (S. 5) passed Congress yesterday after the U.S. House of Representatives approved slight amendments from the U.S. Senate. It is expected to become the first piece of legislation President Trump signs into law.

The bill, which the House and Senate passed in 264-159 and 64-35 votes, respectively, allows state attorneys general to sue state and federal officials for failing to enforce immigration laws. It also requires police help Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deport illegal immigrants arrested for some petty crimes.

The House is expected to approve the slightly amended legislation later this week. In a post-inauguration address to his supporters, Mr. Trump implied he would sign it.

“There is a bill coming up very shortly that [will have] a lot of Democrat votes,” the President predicted. “It’s going to be a very beautiful bill. We’re going to have a decision…within a week or so, I think. You all know what I’m talking about.”

Representative Mike Collins introduced the bill last year after one of his constituents, 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley, was murdered by an illegal immigrant. It fixes some of the systemic failures that allowed her killer, Jose Ibarra, to roam the U.S. freely.

Police arrested and released Ibarra at least three times between 2022, when he entered America illegally, and February 2024, when he brutally beat Riley to death.

Deportation proceedings being when police lodge a detainer, or transfer custody of an illegal immigrant to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Though law enforcement is required to lodge detainers for illegal migrants arrested for criminal offenses, some still choose not to. New York City police arrested and released Ibarra for child endangerment in 2023 . A month later, he flew to Georgia courtesy of New York taxpayers.

It’s unclear why the NYPD failed to detain Ibarra. Importantly, New York City considers itself a sanctuary city, loosely defined as jurisdiction that refuses to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

The Laken Riley Act, if signed, will make it riskier to ignore detainer mandates and other federal immigration laws.

The bill also requires officers to lodge detainers on illegal immigrants arrested for theft, larceny, burglary and shoplifting, which are considered petty crimes.

Ibarra murdered Riley less than six months after Georgia police arrested him for shoplifting. He was already wanted for skipping his shoplifting trial.

Ibarra is not the only illegal immigrant to commit petty crimes before violent ones. Rafael Romero was on probation for theft in Texas before he stalked and murdered 16-year-old Lizbeth Medina. DNA left at a burglary and home invasion in California led police to Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, the man who allegedly murdered Rachel Morin.

Support for the law transcends political parties and stereotypes. Senator Ruben Gallego, a child of immigrants and one of 12 Democrats who helped pass the Laken Riley Act, told Politico:

The Daily Citizen will continue reporting this developing story. You can read more about Laken Riley and the ways illegal immigration harms children and families in the articles below.

Additional Articles and Resources

American Immigration System Loses Contact with Tens of Thousands of Migrant Children

Nonbinary Nonsense: HHS Proposes Rule Making It Harder to Care for Migrant Children

Laken Riley Murdered After Killer Took Taxpayer-Funded Flight

Illegal Immigrant to Appear in Court for Death of Texas Teen, Illustrates Violent Trend

Illegal Immigrant Arrested in Murder of Maryland Mom

Laken Riley Act Introduced in Senate

Talking to Your Kids About Illegal Immigration

Familial DNA Testing on the Southern Border Shouldn’t Have Ended

The Border Crisis and the Deafening Silence of Women’s Groups