On Wednesday, mere days into President Donald Trump's administration, the House passed the Laken Riley Act by a vote of 263-156, handing the new president a key win. The Senate had passed the bill on Monday night, with both chambers passing the bill on a bipartisan basis.
The bill had passed the House previously, also with bipartisan support, but needed to match up with the Senate version that had just passed by a vote of 64-35.
The House passed the Laken Riley Act 263-156
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 22, 2025
46 Dems voted yes. 13 Dems didn't vote.
With this final vote, 46 Democrats voted in favor of the bill, while 13 did not vote. No Republicans voted against it.
Those Democrats voting in favor included Reps. Sanford Bishop (GA), Brendan Boyle (PA), Nikki Budzinski (IL), Janelle Bynum (OR), Jim Costa (CA), Joe Courtney (CT), Angie Craig (MN), Henry Cuellar (TX), Sharice Davids (KS), Don Davis (NC), Shomari Figures (AL), Laura Gillen (NY), Jared Golden (ME), Vicente Gonzalez (TX), Maggie Goodlander (NH), Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Adam Gray (CA), Josh Harder (CA), Jahana Hayes (CT), Steven Horsford (NV), Marcy Kaptur (OH), Greg Landsman (OH), Susie Lee (NV), Mike Levin (CA), Stephen Lynch (MA), John Mannion (NY), Lucy McBath (GA), April McClain-Delaney (MD), Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI), Dave Min (CA), Joe Morelle (NY), Jared Moskowitz (FL), Chris Pappas (NH), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA), Hillary Scholten (MI), Kim Schrier (WA), Terri Sewell (AL), Eric Sorensen (IL), Greg Stanton (AZ), Suhas Subramanyam (VA), Tom Suozzi (NY), Emilia Sykes (OH), Dina Titus (NV), Ritchie Torres (NY), Derek Tran (CA), and Eugene Vindman (VA).
The version from the Senate contained amendments from Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) to make it an even stronger bill.
As Sarah summarized when the bill passed on Monday:
Last week, the Senate approved a Republican amendment adding assault on law enforcement officers to the list of offenses triggering ICE detainment. On Inauguration Day afternoon, the chamber will also vote on a proposal to include "Sarah's Law" as an amendment. Spearheaded by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), the law would require ICE to detain illegal immigrants charged with killing or seriously injuring another individual.
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.
Trump, unlike his predecessor, has shown considerable interest in the victim and her family since her tragic murder. Biden, meanwhile, 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, and even then mispronounced her name as "Lincoln Riley." There was no mention of her in his prepared remarks.
Democrats opposing the bill, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) expressed concern and alarm about the plight of illegal immigrants and their "civil rights."
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who, like AOC is a member of the far-left Squad, used her time arguing against the bill to raise concerns about her mother, leaving questions as to if her own mother is a thief, the group of people whom the bill is targeting.
REP. AOC ON LAKEN RILEY ACT: This bill is a fundamental erosion of our civil rights. In this bill - if a person is accused of a crime, they will be detained and deported. pic.twitter.com/k1PjCu6sBO
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) January 22, 2025
AWKWARD: Rep. Rashida Tlaib rants against a bill that would target illegals who are THIEVES:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 22, 2025
"It will be people like my MOTHER!"
Is her mother a thief? pic.twitter.com/doyXixzs0N
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