House passes Laken Riley Act, sending the first bill to Trump to sign into law
The Republican-led House voted Wednesday to give final passage to the Laken Riley Act, a strict immigration detention measure named for a 22-year-old Georgia nursing school student who was murdered last year by an undocumented immigrant.
WASHINGTON — The Republican-led House on Wednesday passed the Laken Riley Act, a strict immigration detention measure named for a 22-year-old Georgia nursing school student who was murdered last year by an undocumented immigrant.
The legislation, aimed at clamping down on people in the U.S. illegally who commit nonviolent crimes like theft, is expected to be the first bill President Donald Trump signs into law after returning to the White House this week.
The House vote was 263-156, with 46 Democrats joining all Republicans in support of the measure. The bill passed the Senate on Monday by a vote of 64-35, winning 12 Democratic votes. Among them were Sens. Gary Peters, of Michigan; Jon Ossoff, of Georgia; Jeanne Shaheen, of New Hampshire; and Mark Warner, of Virginia, all up for face re-election in 2026.
In November, Jose Ibarra, 26, a Venezuelan citizen who was in the United States illegally, was found guilty of kidnapping, assaulting and murdering Riley while she was out for a jog near the University of Georgia campus in Athens. Ibarra was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump and Republicans highlighted that Ibarra had been cited for shoplifting by a Georgia police department, but that Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not issue a detainer for him and he was not taken into custody.
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