Hours after President Trump took the oath of office on Monday, the Senate passed the Laken-Reilly Act. This paves the way for U.S. authorities to detain illegal immigrants who commit theft-related crimes.
Senators gave the bill the go-ahead by a vote of 64-35. The bill is named after former Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was bludgeoned to death at age 22 while jogging in February. Twelve Democrats joined Republicans in supporting the bill.
Riley, a member of the Torren de Aragua gang, was strangled and bludgeoned to death by an illegal immigrant who had been arrested multiple times for theft and other crimes but had been released back to the United States.
The Senate bill will now be sent back to the House, which has made some amendments that will require the House to vote on it again.
The House is expected to pass the tweaked version of the bill, which will be one of the first bills signed into law by President Trump, 78, as he prepares for a major border crackdown.
The Laken Riley Act specifically targets undocumented immigrants who have committed “robbery, theft, theft, or shoplifting” because of the circumstances surrounding Riley's death.
Her killer was Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan prison gang member who was convicted of murder last year and sentenced to life in prison.
Months before the brutal murder, 26-year-old Ybarra appeared in court on shoplifting charges in Georgia.
Ybarra has had other run-ins with law enforcement, including being arrested on child endangerment charges after grabbing his wife's son and speeding through Queens on his moped. officials previously told The Post.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials later revealed that he was not detained after his arrest in New York because he was released before authorities could secure a detainee.
Ibarra illegally crossed the southern border into El Paso, Texas, on September 8, 2022, but was released due to a lack of detention space, according to immigration authorities.
Riley's brutal death became a rallying cry against former President Joe Biden's border policies, with critics believing the incident could have been prevented if immigration laws had been enforced.
This bill aims to prevent this from happening again.
The measure would allow states to sue the Secretary of Homeland Security if the federal government fails to properly enforce immigration laws.
Republicans have prepared a number of “low-hanging fruit” bills like this one for President Trump to sign.
President Trump is also poised to issue a series of executive orders targeting the border crisis and immigration policy.
