Laken Riley Act passes House, first bill for Trump to sign

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the Laken Riley Act, requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain illegal immigrants who have been arrested for theft-related crimes.

The House voted 263-156, with 46 Democrats joining all Republicans in support of the measure. The bill had passed the Senate two days earlier by a vote of 64-35, with 12 Democratic Senators supporting the legislation. It now heads to President Trump’s desk and is expected to be signed into law this week.

The bill mandates that DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain non-U.S. nationals, referred to as aliens under federal law, who have been charged, arrested, or convicted of burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. It also authorizes states to sue the federal government for decisions or alleged failures related to immigration enforcement.

State governments will be able to sue the federal government over decisions such as releasing a non-U.S. national from custody, failing to inspect individuals seeking admission into the U.S., failing to detain an individual who has been ordered removed from the United States, and other related circumstances.

The legislation is named after 22-year-old Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was murdered while jogging at the University of Georgia by 26-year-old Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan citizen. Ibarra had been detained after crossing the border illegally but was later released into the U.S. The incident received widespread attention and sparked criticism of immigration policies under the Biden administration.

In a similar move on Wednesday, Trump signed an Executive Order suspending the physical entry of illegal immigrants “engaged in an invasion” of the United States.