WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate voted Monday to move forward with consideration of a bill that would impose new mandatory immigration detention requirements for immigrants accused of property crimes and give state attorneys general broad legal authority.
In a vote of 82-10, a majority of Senate Democrats, 32 and one independent, joined Republicans.
Nine Democrats voted against the bill, S. 5, including Sens. Tina Smith of Minnesota, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Andy Kim and Cory Booker of New Jersey, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono from Hawaii. The independent Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders, was also against it.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor that the bill, named after 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, “is a common-sense measure that should be an unquestioned yes vote for every senator.”
Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old immigrant from Venezuela, was charged and convicted last month of Riley's murder. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ibarra is believed to have entered the country illegally in 2022 and was previously arrested in Georgia for shoplifting and later released.
“It would be incredibly disappointing if Democrats moved on to the bill only to try to load it with poison pills or other measures,” said Thune, a Republican from South Dakota.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor that Democrats “will ask our Republican colleagues to allow debate and votes on amendments. I hope my Republican colleagues will allow it.”
Republicans drafted the bill to require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to force immigrants who are charged or arrested for local theft, burglary or shoplifting, which, among other things, means they cannot be released on bail .
The bill, which aims to include non-citizens entering the country without proper authorization, could also include immigrants with discretionary legal status such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Additionally, the bill gives state attorneys general broad legal authority to challenge federal immigration law, State Department visa issuance policies, and immigration judges' bond decisions.
Last week, 32 Senate Democrats and one independent voted with Republicans on a procedural motion to advance the bill. It's the same bill the House passed last year, but Schumer never put the bill up for a vote when Democrats controlled the upper chamber.
The House passed its bill last week, receiving more Democratic support this time, 48 compared to 37 the first time, after an election in which border security was a key issue for President-elect Donald Trump.
Last updated on January 13, 2025 at 7:25 p.m
