Sen. Fetterman co-sponsored the bill, saying immigration policy is part of why Democrats lost in 2024.
On Thursday, the Senate took a procedural vote to begin debate on the Laken Riley Act, which would require federal immigration authorities to detain individuals in the United States illegally who are also “charged, arrested, or convicted” for theft-related crimes.
Bills in the Senate require 60 votes to advance. The vote to proceed garnered overwhelming bipartisan support, with 84 members of the Senate voting in favor.
Among those who supported the bill are Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman, who also co-sponsored the Senate version. Fetterman told reporters that issues related to immigration and the Democratic Party’s stance on immigration policy is one of the reasons Democrats lost the 2024 election. Defending his tougher stance on immigration, Fetterman said “it’s not xenophobic to want a secure border.”
The bill is named after a Georgia college student who was murdered by an illegal immigrant last year. Laken Riley was an undergrad at the University of Georgia who was killed while jogging. Riley’s murder spurred a nationwide debate about illegal immigrants committing other crimes and whether to deport them.
Earlier in the week, the House of Representatives cleared the bill by a vote of 264 to 159, with 48 Democrats joining 216 Republicans supporting the bill. The primary sponsor of the House version, Georgia Republican Mike Collins told Newsmax that the bill “may not close the border” but will ensure dangerous criminals are off the streets.
Critics of the bill call it a “trojan horse” that “would impose sweeping changes to the immigration system that raise serious constitutional concerns”, claiming that because the bill targets those arrested for crimes, not just convicted, it is possible that someone falsely accused could be indefinitely detained. These individuals are still in the United States illegally.