Congress is sending Laken Riley’s bill to Trump’s desk as the first bill in the GOP’s takeover of Washington
The Laken Riley GOP bill is headed for the president Donald Trump table, which became the first piece of legislation he signed after the party took over both houses of Congress and the White House.
The House of Representatives passed the bill by a 263-156 vote on Wednesday, the second time the lower house has advanced legislation this month.
The House of Representatives adopted it by 264 to 159 votes on January 7. All voting Republicans supported the bill, along with 48 Democrats – two more than the last vote.
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Trump is expected to sign the Laken Riley Act as the first piece of legislation in his new term. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
The GOP controlled Senate also advanced the bill by a bipartisan 64-35 vote, but added measures to deport illegal immigrants who assault a police officer or cause the death or “serious bodily injury” of another person.
The original bill would have ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to detain illegal immigrants accused of theft-related crimes. It would also allow states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for damages caused to their citizens by illegal immigration.
Most Democrats opposed the bill, arguing that allowing the deportation of people accused but not convicted of crimes is a slippery slope. But supporters of the bill point out that people here illegally have already defied the US law.
Jose Ibarra, left, was found guilty of 10 counts in the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, right. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Notably, however, more Democrats supported the bill when it passed the House this month than when it first came up for a vote in 2024. That’s a significant difference from last year when the Senate, then controlled by Democrats, didn’t even take it up. into account the voting bill.
“Nothing ever happens in this city until the American people demand it,” the bill’s leader, Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., told Fox News Digital when asked about increased left-wing support.
“And they were screaming at the top of their lungs for something to happen to solve the border problem.”
Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, who spearheaded Sarah’s Law, one of the amendments passed into the bill, told Fox News Digital: “Nearly ten years ago, 21-year-old Sarah Root’s life was tragically cut short when she was killed by an illegal immigrant who drove drunk…Sarah’s Law not only brought justice for the Root family, but also ensures that any illegal immigrant who injures or kills an American citizen is swiftly apprehended and prosecuted.”
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Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., spearheaded the bill in the House. (Bill Clark)
GOP lawmakers they are working on monitoring through Trump’s promises to crack down on illegal immigration and border security amid a series of executive orders from the president on those same issues. They are positioning the Laken Riley Act as the first bill to receive Trump’s signature as a reflection of their efforts to make his plan permanent.
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The bill is named after a nursing student who was shot and killed by an illegal immigrant while jogging on the University of Georgia campus.
Jose Ibarra, who was sentenced to life in prison for the Laken Riley murder, had already been arrested but never taken into custody by ICE.
