The Laken-Reilly Act cleared a second procedural hurdle in the Senate on Monday, but debate has turned to amendments pushed by Democrats to potentially add changes to the bill.
Senators voted 82-10 in favor of the motion to pass the bill, allowing it to begin consideration on the floor.
The bill would require federal detention of immigrants without legal status who are accused of theft, robbery, and other related crimes.
On Thursday, they cleared the first hurdle by an overwhelming margin of 84-9. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York voted Thursday, along with 32 other senators who caucus with Democrats.
But it's unclear where this bill will go. Speaking on the floor before the vote, Schumer said he hoped Republicans would be open to Democrats' amendments.
“We will ask our Republican colleagues to allow debate and a vote on the amendment, and we hope that they will allow it,” Schumer said, adding, “debate'' and an opportunity to “improve this bill.''
“This issue is extremely important, and Americans deserve a serious discussion about it, including consideration of the Democratic amendments,” Schumer added.
Democrats have not yet said what amendments they plan to propose, but Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) told reporters that John Thune's amendments would be acceptable. He said he believed the words of the Senate Majority Leader (Republican).
Durbin acknowledged that Democrats are concerned about giving Republicans a sudden victory on immigration.
“That's why they introduced that bill. It's a 'troublesome' bill,” he said.
“But Mr. Thune has proposed an amendment and said he wants to work on bipartisanship. I hope he does that,” Durbin said.
Riley, a Georgia college student, was killed in February by a Venezuelan immigrant who had been arrested for shoplifting before the attack and later released on parole.
At least seven Senate Democrats have indicated they intend to vote in favor of the current bill: Sens. John Fetterman (Pennsylvania), Ruben Gallego (Arizona), and Mark Kelly (R-Ariz.). (Arizona), Sen. Jon Ossoff (Georgia), Sen. Gary Peters (Michigan), Jacky Rosen (Nevada), and Elissa Slotkin (Michigan).
Fetterman and Gallego co-sponsored the bill.
But while many Democrats have voted to advance the bill, Durbin wasn't sure there would be enough Republicans to push it through.
“I don't know,” he said. “There are some Democrats who support this, but I don't know if they support it.” [the] They need seven or eight guys.”
Democratic support began after the 2024 campaign, during which the party often trailed on the issue and was repeatedly criticized by Republicans who argued that Democrats were too soft on illegal immigrants. It was done.
However, many Democrats have expressed problems with the bill in its current form. They are particularly concerned about the powers granted to state attorneys general and the requirement for detention after arrest rather than conviction.
“The Laken Riley Act needs to be fixed,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). “Paper theory just doesn't work at this point. It's going to cause more problems than it solves, and it's going to cause a lot of disruption to our immigration system.”
Thune said Monday that this is an opportunity for Democrats to get on the right side of the issue.
“I never bet anything when it comes to dealing with the Democrats, but at least… they seem to have concluded that they're on the wrong side of this issue,” Thune told radio host Hugh. He spoke to Hewitt about his chances of winning. Get the votes you need from across the aisle.
“We're going to put them on record in some way, and if they do, we want to protect criminals who are in this country illegally and who are committing criminal acts, in this case horrific murders, against American citizens. If so, that is their decision,” he continued. “But I have to believe that there are seven Democrats who will ultimately vote with us to turn this into law.”
Sen.-elect Jim Justice (R-Va.) is scheduled to be sworn in on Tuesday, bringing Senate Republicans closer to a 53-47 majority.
Last week, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance resigned from the Senate, temporarily reducing the number of eligible voters in the conference by one. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (Republican) is expected to name Vance's successor in the coming days.
If the full Senate Republican conference convenes, only seven Democrats would need to side with Republicans to pass the bill in its current form.
The House passed the bill last week, with 48 Democrats voting with all sitting Republicans.
