What does the Laken Riley Act say?

TThe Republican-controlled House and Senate are pushing forward legislation aimed at handing over some federal immigration enforcement powers to states and ushering in a tougher new era of immigrant detention.

The Laken-Riley bill passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday with support from 216 Republicans and 48 Democrats. The Senate is considering the bill, which has received unusually high levels of support among Democratic senators. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman and Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, both Democrats, co-sponsored the Senate version of the bill. The Senate could bring the bill to a full vote as early as Friday.

The measure’s key provisions would force immigration officials to unlawfully arrest and detain immigrants in the country if they are suspected of petty theft of $100 or more. The bill would also significantly expand attorneys general’s authority over federal immigration policy, allowing state officials to sue the federal government to cause the detention of certain immigrants and forcing the State Department to block visas from countries that do not take back deported people.

The 8-page bill is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered last year in Athens, Georgia, by Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan immigrant who was in the country illegally and had previously been arrested by Border Patrol . Ibarra was sentenced to life in prison without parole for Riley’s killing in November.

Here you can see what is in the invoice.

Compulsory detention of immigrants suspected of theft

If the bill passes and new President Trump signs it, it would change the way the federal government deals with immigrants who are in the country illegally and suspected of stealing something worth $100 or more a relatively minor offense that would include cases of shoplifting. The bill requires the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to “take into custody aliens accused of theft and other purposes in the United States,” meaning immigration officials would be required to arrest and detain those individuals.

Currently, immigration officials use their discretion to first detain people with violent criminal records. But the law would override that discretion. “This bill hinders the daily operations of ICE,” said Jason Houser, who served as chief of staff for Immigration and Customs Enforcement from 2021 to 2023. The federal government has enough resources to finance the housing of approximately 41,000 people in immigration detention. Houser estimates that the bill would require 20,000 more people to be placed in immigration detention and require federal authorities to divert manpower to find the most violent and dangerous offenders. “If it passes, you will see fewer people in prison who are convicted violent offenders than you do today.”

The bill would also impact legal immigration. The legislation directs Customs and Border Protection officials to consider a person “inadmissible” to the United States if they are arrested for, or admit to, acts that constitute larceny or shoplifting. That would mean that someone with a valid visa to stay in the United States could be deported before they have a chance to defend themselves against such allegations before a judge.

Attorneys general could seek immigration detention

The bill gives state attorneys general the authority to sue the federal government over its treatment of undocumented people in its custody. State officials could request that a court order immigration officials to locate and arrest those released from immigration detention. “It allows state attorneys general to sue the Secretary of Homeland Security for injunctive relief when immigration actions such as parole, bond violations or other policy violations harm this state or its citizens,” said Georgia Republican Congressman Mike Collins introduced the bill in the House of Representatives.

For most of U.S. history, courts have granted the president and federal government broad authority over immigration decisions. This bill would reverse that and give state attorneys general the ability to override immigration decisions made by federal officials. Critics of the bill argue that some of the bill’s supporters did not properly consider the far-reaching implications of this change. “We do not believe it makes sense to reverse our system of federal supremacy and give state attorneys general the authority to oversee the decisions of individual line officials at ICE and CBP, as well as decisions all the way up to the Secretary of State,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, Sr Fellow at the American Immigration Council.

State officials could demand that the State Department stop issuing visas to countries that do not accept deportations

The bill would also give states the power to interfere in U.S. foreign policy. One reason immigrants found in the country illegally are not deported is because their home country does not accept them. Nicaragua, Honduras, Brazil, India, Russia and the Democratic Republic of Congo are among the countries currently unwilling to accept people deported from the United States

Proponents of the bill want state attorneys general to be able to sue the State Department to demand that it stop issuing U.S. visas to countries that refuse to deport their nationals. “They are putting the immigration process and the visa process in the hands of the courts and the states,” Reichlin-Melnick said.

Who supports the bill in Congress?

The bill passed the House of Representatives with unanimous support from Republicans and the support of 48 of 215 Democrats. In the Senate, where there is a 60-vote threshold to begin debate on the bill, 31 Democrats joined all Senate Republicans in advancing the bill. Only nine Democrats opposed it. In addition to Senators Fetterman and Gallego co-sponsoring the bill, other Democratic senators have said they plan to support the bill, including Senators Mark Kelly of Arizona, Gary Peters of Michigan, Jacky Rosen of Nevada and Elissa Slotkin Michigan.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he voted to table the bill to hold a debate and offer amendments to change the bill’s provisions. Senate Majority Leader John Thune will decide which amendments to consider before bringing the bill to a vote for final passage. If the bill makes it to the White House in its current form, President-elect Donald Trump would likely sign it into law when he takes office.