Trump Praises, Signs Laken Riley Act

Bill requires that undocumented migrants charged with some crimes be detained, deported
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 23, 2025 12:00 AM CST
Updated Jan 29, 2025 3:54 PM CST
Laken Riley Act Clears Congress
President Trump hands a pen to Allyson Phillips, mother of Laken Riley, after signing the Laken Riley Act in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
UPDATE Jan 29, 2025 3:54 PM CST

President Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law on Wednesday, a legislative victory to open his second term that broadens the rules for arresting, detaining, and deporting people in the US illegally who are charged with committing certain crimes. "It's a landmark law that we are doing today," Trump said at the signing ceremony at the White House, NPR reports. Allyson Phillips, whose daughter Riley is the law's namesake, thanked Trump in tearful remarks. "What we are hoping for is that her life saves lives," she said.

Jan 23, 2025 12:00 AM CST

The House of Representatives on Wednesday gave final approval to the Laken Riley Act in a 263-156 vote. The bill requires that undocumented migrants charged with certain crimes be immediately detained and possibly deported, and is named for Riley, the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student murdered by an undocumented migrant from Venezuela last year. Forty-six Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the bill, reports CNN, which notes congressional Republicans chose this as the first bill of the new Congress and second Trump administration. The Senate passed the bill Monday after making changes to it last week, the New York Times reports. The vote was 64-35, with 12 Democrats in favor. It will head to the White House for President Trump's signature next week.

CNN notes the bipartisan support "signals a notable shift" for Democrats, and the Times says that after their losses in the November election, some Democrats have moved to the right on the issue of immigration, feeling "they must embrace basic steps to punish unlawfulness, even if they disagree with some of the details." The crimes that call for an undocumented migrant's detention include theft, shoplifting, and burglary along with a number of violent crimes. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said it will need more resources in order to fully implement the act. (More Laken Riley stories.)

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