The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill named after a murdered Georgia nursing student that would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest undocumented immigrants accused by local authorities of larceny, burglary, larceny or shoplifting.
What you need to know
- The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill named after a murdered Georgia nursing student that would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest undocumented immigrants accused by local authorities of larceny, burglary, larceny or shoplifting
- The bill would also allow states and individuals to sue the attorney general and the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security if migrants are released on bail or parole, which then “harms” the state or residents.
- Far-right Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., introduced the Laken Riley Act after 22-year-old Laken Riley was killed while jogging last month. Police have charged a Venezuelan migrant with murder and assault
- The man was previously arrested along with his brother for stealing around $200 worth of food and clothing from a Walmart in Athens, Georgia
- It now heads to the Senate, where it is unlikely to reach a Democratic majority
The bill would also allow states and individuals to sue the attorney general and the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security if migrants are released on bail or parole, which then “harms” the state or residents. It now heads to the Senate, where it is unlikely to reach a Democratic majority.
Far-right Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., introduced the Laken Riley Act after 22-year-old Laken Riley was killed while jogging last month. Police have charged a Venezuelan, Jose Ibarra, with murder and assault. Ibarra was previously arrested along with his brother for stealing about $200 worth of groceries and clothing from a Walmart in Athens, Georgia, in October, prosecutors said in a court filing. ICE claims Ibarra was also arrested by the New York Police Department in August on various charges, but the NYPD has said it has no record of an arrest.
“As Joe Biden comes to the Capitol tonight to defend his atrocious record, the House of Representatives is voting to censure him for the open borders policies that led directly to the murder of Laken Riley,” Collins said in a speech Thursday in the House of Representatives. Immigration Authorities say Ibarra, 26, entered the United States unlawfully in 2022. It is unclear whether he has applied for asylum.
The bill passed by a vote of 251-170, with 37 Democrats crossing party lines supporting the bill.
“I now call on the Senate to pass this bill immediately,” the Georgia Republican lawmaker wrote in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Please help us ensure justice for Laken and give ICE more tools to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens before they commit even more serious crimes.”
Collins invited Riley's parents to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address on Thursday, but they declined to attend.
“I invited Laken Riley's parents to the State of the Union address, but understandably they have chosen to stay home as they grieve the loss of their daughter,” he wrote on X. Therefore, the seat reserved for my guest remains vacant Honor Laken and all American victims of illegal alien crime.
“One way or another, we're going to force everyone to take sides here,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said on Fox News' “Fox and Friends” Thursday morning. “You saw what happened, you know, committed a theft and let it out. And finally, Laken Riley’s murderer was one of those people who was literally caught breaking the law and then immediately released from prison so they could commit murder.”
Years of data and analysis conclude that immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born U.S. citizens, regardless of their legal status.
“Immigrants are 30 percent less likely to be incarcerated than U.S.-born whites,” said a Stanford University report last year. The right-wing Cato Institute reported in 2020 that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born Americans, regardless of their legal status.
But Republicans have used the killing as evidence to support their false claims that the U.S. is under attack by migrants intentionally allowed into the country by Biden and other Democrats.
“She was a beautiful young woman. She was an amazing person, the best nursing student there was. I spoke to her parents yesterday. “They are incredible people who are incredibly devastated,” former President Donald Trump said in a speech near the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas last month. “The monster blamed for the death is an illegal immigrant who was allowed into our country and released into our communities by the corrupt Joe Biden.”
Republican politicians and media figures have called on Biden to directly address Riley's killing, but the president has not yet done so publicly. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre did not say whether she planned to mention Riley in his State of the Union address.
“It’s such a tragic story and obviously a situation. “This is the life of a person who has been lost, so I would always like to express our deepest condolences to her family, her friends and the people who loved her,” said Jean-Pierre. “I would be remiss if I didn’t continue to say that Republicans rejected a bipartisan Senate proposal. So if they really cared about what was going on at the border; If they really cared about this immigration policy and were trying to fix it – if they were trying to move forward gradually, in a way where we have a strong and fair law – they would work with us on it .”
A bipartisan border security and immigration reform bill backed by Biden failed after Trump's opposition encouraged congressional Republicans to withdraw their support, in part stripping Biden of any credit for his attempt to address the humanitarian and political crisis.
The proposed deal would have given Biden the authority to close the border if the number of migrants crossing on a given day exceeds 8,500, or an average of 5,000 over a seven-day period. It would also have provided $20 billion in funding to help hire an additional 1,500 Border Patrol agents, 4,300 asylum officers and 100 immigration judges. It would also provide funding for 100 machines to support fentanyl detection and about $1.4 billion for struggling cities and towns to combat the growing number of migrants in their communities, the White House said.
“Instead of approaching this tragic event thoughtfully, Republicans appear to have simply cobbled 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 them “address the situation at the border,” said Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., as the bill was debated Thursday. He noted that the bill would require the detention of migrants who have been charged but not convicted of a crime. “No due process. All to demonize immigrants and appear tough without actually making this country safer.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
