WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday that significantly expands mandatory detention requirements for immigrants charged and arrested for, among other things, petty crimes.
In a 263-156 voteForty-six Democrats in the House of Representatives voted with Republicans to pass the bill. p. 5to President Donald Trump’s desk to sign the bill. The measure’s passage gave Trump — who campaigned against immigration policies and promised mass deportations — an early victory for a president less than a week into his second term.
The GOP-led bill is named after 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. The man convicted of her murder is believed to have entered the country without proper authorization, according to immigration officials, and was later charged with shoplifting in the United States.
“I am proud that the Laken Riley Act will be the first-ever groundbreaking legislation signed into law by President Trump, and it is evidence that President Trump and the Republican majority in the Senate are prepared to turn promises made into promises kept “Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt, who led the bill, said in a statement.
Many immigration lawyers and advocates have argued Passage of the law will facilitate fuel Trump’s promises of mass deportations because it would require mandatory detention of immigrants without an immigration judge being able to grant bail.
Additionally, the bill does not provide an exemption for immigrant children, meaning if they are accused or charged with shoplifting, the bill would require their detention.
And while the bill targets immigrants who are in the country without proper legal authorization, immigration lawyers have argued that some immigrants with legal status could also be trapped.
Another troubling provision that some Democrats and immigration lawyers point to is the broad legal authority the bill gives state attorneys general to challenge federal immigration policies and the bond decisions of immigration judges.
The same authority could also force the Secretary of State to stop issuing visas internationally.
There is also the problem of resources. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement estimated the cost of enforcing the law to be at least $26.9 billion in the first year. according to NPR. The budget for ICE for fiscal year 2024 is about $9 billion.
Twelve Senate Democrats joined Republicans pass the bill on Monday from the upper chamber. The House of Representatives has already passed the bill earlier this monthbut because amendments were added to the measure in the Senate, it went back to the House for final passage.
Those Senate Democrats included Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona, Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan. Jacky Rosen from Nevada and Mark Warner from Virginia.
The majority of these Senate Democrats are up for re-election in 2026 or come from a battleground state that Trump won in November.
Senators also agreed to add two amendments to the bill that would expand mandatory detention requirements even further.
One the change Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn is calling for mandatory incarceration for assault on a police officer. Another Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa envisions mandatory liability policies that apply in the event of earnest injury or death to a person.
Last updated at 6:02 p.m., January 22, 2025
