February 19, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — Fresh off President Donald Trump's inauguration, the Senate on Monday passed a bill that would require federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft and violent crimes, the first measure he likely will sign into law and giving more weight to his plans to deport millions of migrants.
Trump has made a broad crackdown on illegal immigration his top priority, and Congress, with Republicans in control and some Democrats willing to go along, is showing it is ready to follow suit. The bill passed 64-35, with 12 Democrats joining with Republicans voting in favor.
Passage of the Laken Riley Act — named after a Georgia nursing student whose murder by a Venezuelan man in the country illegally last year became a rallying cry for Trump’s White House campaign — was a sign of how Congress has shifted sharply right on border security and immigration. Passage came just minutes before Trump signed the first of his executive orders.
“We don’t want criminals coming into our country,” Trump told supporters at the Capitol earlier Monday, adding he looked forward to holding a bill signing “within a week or so.”
The bill now heads back to the Republican-controlled House, which passed its version earlier this month and will need to approve changes made in the Senate. The Senate expanded the legislation to target immigrants who assault a police officer or are accused of crimes that kill or seriously injure someone.
“Anyone who commits a crime should be held accountable. That’s why I voted to pass the Laken Riley Act,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., said on social media after its passage. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said that a “secure border” and support for immigration were “fully compatible.”
The bill cleared a key procedural vote in the Senate last week also with support from Democrats, and similar legislation gained support from 48 House Democrats earlier this month.
“If you come into this country illegally and you commit a crime, you should not be free to roam the streets of this nation,” said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who helped push the bill through the Senate.
The legislation would require federal authorities to detain migrants accused of crimes, including shoplifting, and would grant states new legal standing to challenge federal immigration decisions, including by immigration judges.
Deporting millions of migrants or enforcing the Laken Riley Act will largely depend on Congress' ability to allocate roughly $100 billion that Republicans have proposed for border security and immigration enforcement.
Currently, the Laken Riley Act has no funding attached to it, but Democrats on the Appropriations Committee estimate the bill would cost $83 billion over the next three years, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has estimated it would need to nearly triple the number of detention beds and conduct more than 80 removal flights per week to implement the requirements, according to the memo.
