The United States House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday requiring any migrant who commits burglary or theft to be detained.
The law was named after a Georgia student who was allegedly slain by an illegal immigrant. On February 22 in Athens, Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University, died from blunt force trauma.
The so-called Laken Riley Act, which passed the House 251–170, is Republicans’ latest attempt to spotlight the immigration issue in an election year. Thirty-seven Democrats joined all Republicans in backing the legislation.
Republicans have used Riley’s murder to criticize the Biden administration’s border and immigration policies.
“Innocent Americans from Laken Riley in Georgia to the 14-year-old rape victim of an illegal immigrant in our home state of Louisiana,” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., stated on Wednesday. “They’ve all been harmed by people whom the Biden administration has allowed into the nation. He’s unleashing them in your state.
According to research, migrants are less likely than US citizens to commit crimes.
Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan citizen, was accused of Riley’s murder. According to officials, Ibarra was in the United States illegally.
Just hours before Biden’s State of the Union address was set to begin, the House adopted the legislation. Republicans say they hope that enacting the law will bring attention to Riley’s tragedy.
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., wrote to the president this week urging him to mention the Georgia student’s name during his remarks, and Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., said his guest seat for Thursday’s speech will be empty “in honor of Laken Riley and all Americans who have lost their lives to an illegal alien criminal.”
Other Republicans have said that they will also invite immigration-focused guests to the address to raise awareness of the problem.
Democrats, on the other hand, have accused Republicans of exploiting Riley’s death.
“Unfortunately, instead of coming together to express our sorrow for Laken’s tragic loss, the majority appears to be exploiting her death for yet another partisan, political stunt,” Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-New York, said on the House floor Thursday.
“Rather than approaching this tragic event in a thoughtful manner, Republicans appear to have just thrown together language from existing, unrelated bills that target and scapegoat immigrants to score cheap political points in an election year while doing nothing to address the situation at the border,” he wrote. “This approach is fundamentally unserious.”
The measure would alter the existing detention regime. Currently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not prioritize those apprehended for nonviolent crimes.
The bill would require those arrested for ‘any burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting offense’ to be detained, but it’s unclear if the new rules would have prevented the release of Ibarra, who entered the country illegally in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, from Mexico and was released for further processing after being detained. It’s unknown whether he was seeking refuge.
Ibarra was later arrested in Georgia after receiving shoplifting charges and failing to appear for his court date.
According to polls, immigration is currently the most pressing topic among voters as they prepare for the November elections. According to a Gallup poll issued last month, 28 percent of respondents said immigration was the most pressing issue facing the country today, the highest-ranking response. The government came in second with 20%, followed by the economy as a whole with 12%.
Collins, the bill’s author, stated that H.R. 7511 is intended to offer US Immigration and Customs Enforcement new powers to “fight against illegal alien crime.”
The act calls for the reinstatement of former President Donald Trump’s immigration policy, including the practice known as “Remain in Mexico,” as well as the termination of the present practice of “catch and release.”
