Democrats in the US Congress are helping Trump with a bill to crack down on spiritual immigrants Reuters
Richard Cowan and Gabriella Borter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress passed legislation on Wednesday for Republican President Donald Trump to require the detention of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who are accused of theft, with a significant number of Democrats voting in favor.
The House of Representatives with a Republican majority, 263-156 votes, passed and sent the Laken Riley Act to Trump for signature. It is expected to be the first of several steps Republicans have taken this year to strengthen border security and further slow the flow of migrants into the United States.
The House of Representatives passed the bill with 46 Democrats and 217 Republicans. The Senate did so earlier this week with the help of 12 of the 47 Democrats and independents who are with them in the caucus. Without those ten votes, the measure would have died in Congress for the time being.
The bill is named after a student in the state of Georgia who was killed by a Venezuelan man who was living in the U.S. illegally and had a prior record of shoplifting. He is now serving a life sentence in prison.
The bill would require the detention of immigrants suspected of theft or other crimes such as shoplifting, even if they have not been charged with any crime.
Trump won the presidential election in November after making immigration a major issue during his campaign, encouraging Republicans to push ahead with his anti-immigrant agenda.
Democrats who supported the bill said it reflected their constituents’ concerns about immigration.
“The American people want us to do something about the border, and I think it would be hard for us not to say we have to deport criminals,” Rep. Tom Suozzi, a moderate Democrat who voted for the bill, told Reuters.
Some more liberal Democrats have accused the party of making concessions on immigration after the 2024 election, when Republicans took a majority in the Senate and retained a very slim majority in the House of Representatives.
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of the most liberal members of the caucus, called it “disheartening” Wednesday that so many Democrats support the bill.
House Democratic Caucus Leader Pete Aguilar said there has been no wavering in his party’s support for immigration reform, noting that Republicans have repeatedly repealed bills that were strong on border security and aimed at modernizing US immigration law.
“The Democrats have not changed on this issue,” Aguilar said in response to a question from Reuters. “We will continue to talk about Dreamers and farmworkers” and those immigrants who have legal status in the United States, he added. Dreamers is about immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children.
Almost a year ago, a similar bill passed the House of Representatives with the support of 37 Democrats, but went nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
