Republicans in Congress campaigned on border security last year.
So it should come as no surprise that their initial legislative action in 2025 focused on illegal immigration and tightening the border.
Whether the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley was appropriated by congressional Republicans for political gain is debatable. Riley, 22, went jogging last February and never returned. Jose Antonio Ibarra killed Riley. He entered the country illegally from Venezuela.
“He smashed her head in with a rock. This is one of the most heinous crimes imaginable. People need to know what that animal did to her,” said Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., the lead sponsor of the immigration bill.
Jose Ibarra was found guilty of 10 counts in the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Republicans seized on that episode. On the right, the Laken Riley case symbolized everything that was wrong with the border and the Biden administration. Days after Riley’s death last year, the House approved Laken Riley’s bill. The law requires federal custody for anyone in the country illegally arrested for shoplifting or theft. Republicans argued that if there had been such a policy to pick up Ibarra, Riley would be with us today.
It will take months for Republicans in Congress to get on the same page when it comes to President-elect Donald Trump’s demand for a combined “big, beautiful bill” on tax policy, federal spending and immigration. President of the house Mike JohnsonR-La., says the goal is to pass that reconciliation package in early April.
Getting the border security package approved would be challenging enough in itself – not to mention the cost. So Republicans in Congress are targeting the low-hanging fruit. So the GOP turned to an old standby as its main legislative effort for the new year: the Laken Riley Act.
Progressive Democrats pounced, accusing Republicans of watering down the race.
“It’s simply an attempt to score cheap political points on a tragic death,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said during the debate. “This is the Republican game over and over again. You’re scaring people with immigrants.”
USER’S MANUAL FOR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION VERIFICATION
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., accused Republicans of trying to “score cheap political points” by naming their anti-illegal immigrant crime bill after Laken Riley. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Their bill today is an empty and opportunistic measure,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Med., the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. “Pick a crime. Stick in it a template immigration bill that covers convicted criminals, then demand the detention or deportation of certain people who are merely accused of committing a crime or arrested for committing a crime.”
“It’s very clear that House Republicans are going to push through an anti-immigrant agenda,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif. “I personally voted against it because it would open the way for DACA people to be deported, even if they’re just around someone who has committed a crime.”
Republicans clapped back.
“To my Democratic colleagues, I ask you, how many more laws with names do we need to pass before you take this crisis seriously?” asked Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., during a House debate.
Most Democratic criticism stemmed from the left wing of the party and the progressives.
But an evolution is underway in the Democratic Party. Practicality when it comes to border security, immigration and how the party largely ignored the issue in the last election. And he probably paid the price.
LAKEN RILEY ACT PASSES FABULOUS REP WITH 48 DEMS, ALL REPUBLICANS
Thirty-seven House Democrats voted in favor of Laken Riley’s bill when the House approved an initial version of the bill last year. That number grew to 48 Democratic yeses this week when the House of Representatives approved the Laken Riley Act of 2025 in its first legislative vote of 2025.
An examination of the voting matrix shows that dozens of moderate Democrats or those representing swing districts voted yes. Six Democrats who voted against last year, this time turned their vote to yes.
That includes Reps. Brendan Boyle, D-Penn., Val Hoyle, D-Ore., Lucy McBath, D-Ga., Joe Morelle, DN.Y., Ritchie Torres, DN.Y., and Terri Sewell, D- Ala.
“I’m worried about what happened to Miss Riley.” said Morelle, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. “I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to other people.”
Other yeses came from longtime conservative Democrats like Rep. Henry Cueller, D-Tex. He represents the border district. Asked why he voted against it, Cueller said, “That’s easy. We don’t welcome people who break the law.”
Other moderates representing swing districts who voted in favor included Reps. Angie Craig, D-Minn., Don Davis, DN.C., Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, speaks during a news conference about the rising suicide rate in the U.S. Border Patrol, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
So did the Democrats get religious after the election?
“There’s been criticism that Democrats aren’t taking immigration seriously,” yours truly asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y. “Was there regret and that’s why some of these votes changed?”
Jeffries attributed this to new members joining Club of Democrats.
“My understanding is that there were about eight to ten additional Democratic votes this year compared to last year. There are 30 new members of the House Democratic Caucus,” Jeffries said.
But even though the bill passed the House of Representatives, there is always the Senate. And the Senate never considered the Laken Riley Act last year.
“The Senate,” Collins lamented. “[The bill] got bogged down and did not appear anywhere. He fell into the black hole of the Senate. Like most of our laws that we sent there.”
LEARNING CURVE: NEW PLAYERS IN CONGRESS
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said it’s not “xenophobic” to want a secure border. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
But Republicans now control the Senate. Not the Democrats. New Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., made sure his body also made Laken Riley’s bill a primary focus for the 2025 start.
“Senate Democrats uniformly opposed (the Laken Riley Act) last year, despite the bill receiving bipartisan support in the House,” Thune said. “We’ll see what they do when the new majority in the Senate brings it up for a vote.”
Sen. John FettermanD-Penn., who often opposes his own party, quickly signed the Laken Riley Act.
“It’s not xenophobic to want a secure border,” Fetterman said. “It’s not xenophobic if you don’t want people with criminal records who are actively breaking the law to stay here in the country.”
Fetterman dismissed liberal concerns about violating the civil rights of undocumented people who may be detained.
“If they’re here,” Fetterman said, “technically, they’re already breaking the law.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
And a number of other Democrats were also quick to support the measure.
Among them was Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a freshman representing the border battleground state. He claims that Democrats messed up the issue of border security in the election.
“There was a failure to act together. It certainly cost the Democratic Party. And I would say potentially, the White House,” Gallego said. “I think we have to learn from it.”
The Senate votes today to break the filibuster to begin debate on the Laken Riley Act. It will be set for adoption next week if it clears that procedural hurdle today.
Republicans will offer other border security/immigration bills in the next few months. See if the Democrats join them. The lesson learned from the Laken Riley Act is that Democrats representing competitive territory believe the party has messed up when it comes to border security. They try to inoculate themselves on that question. Even if not all are Democrats, this marks a different approach for the party on the border compared to last year.
