Laken Riley Act Clears Another Hurdle. Here's When It's Expected to Pass.

On Friday, the Senate voted to clear another hurdle when it comes to passing the Laken Riley Act. By a vote of 61-35, with 60 votes needed, the chamber voted to end debate on the bill. All 51 Republicans who voted did so to advance the bill, with 10 Democrats joining. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) did not vote, although he is a cosponsor of the bill and in strong support.

Democrats voting to advance the bill included Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona, Jon Ossoff of Arizona, Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, and Mark Warner of Virginia.

Fox News' Chad Pergram pointed out that if and when it likely passes the Senate next week, it will have to go back to the House for both versions to sync up.

Senate votes 61-35 to break filibuster on Laken Riley Act with Dem help. Senate altered the bill. That puts it on course to pass the Senate next week. So it needs to go back to the House to align with the Senate. If the House and Senate sync up, this likely goes to…
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 17, 2025

From colleague Kelly Phares. 11 Dem yeas to break filibuster on Laken Riley Act: Cortez Masto, Gallego, Hassan, Kelly, Peters, Rosen, Shaheen, Slotkin & Warner. Fetterman is for it. But did not vote
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 17, 2025

Pergram also posted that the Senate will vote on the bill at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, the same day President-elect Donald Trump is to be inaugurated, with the House potentially voting as early as Tuesday.

The bill's expected passage, considering it already previously passed the House by 264-159 last week, looks to be an early legislative win for Trump, and on one of his top issues from his first term and during the 2024 campaign election. Illegal immigration, especially illegal immigrant crime, became a particularly serious problem during the Biden-Harris administration.

The bill is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at the University of Georgia who was murdered last February by Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. He was found guilty in November and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Ibarra had also been arrested in Athens for shoplifting and in New York for vehicular charges. Those sanctuary cities did not tell the feds about Ibarra's previous arrests, though. The Laken Riley Act mandates the detention of illegal immigrants charged with theft-related crimes while residing in the country.

While President Joe Biden had to be heckled by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) into saying her name during his final State of the Union address last March, he still flubbed her name, referring to the victim as "Lincoln Riley." Quoting Greene's words back to her, he acknowledged that Riley was "killed by an illegal," causing outrage amongst his fellow Democrats, not so much because a young woman had been brutally murdered by someone who should not have been in the country to begin with, but rather because he dared to accurately refer to her killer's immigration status. Days later, during an interview with MSNBC, Biden said he should not have used the term "illegal," though the White House still claimed he did not actually apologize.

Trump, meanwhile, in stark contrast, held a rally not long after in Athens, Georgia, where he also met with the victim's family members. The rally took place the same weekend as Biden's interview.

Of the 35 Democrats who voted against the bill, among them is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). He took to X to claim that while he voted against ending debate on the bill, he "will keep working to pass effective legislation to reform our immigration system."

In the approximately two hours since the post has been up, Schumer's post has been ratioed, with close to 500 replies from users who aren't exactly thrilled with the minority leader's vote.

Democrats filed many amendments to address the deficiencies in the Laken Riley Act—but the GOP did not agree to have a serious debate

Without changes to improve this bill, I have voted no

While I don't support this bill, I will keep working to pass effective legislation to…
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 17, 2025