Washington In order to move on with a Republican-led plan that has received strong support from Democrats and aims to crack down on illegal immigration, the Senate voted Thursday to start debate on the Laken Riley Act.
The bill comfortably passed the 60-vote barrier to move on in the Senate, which is controlled by the Republican Party, by a vote of 84-9. However, a lot of Democrats have indicated that they would like to change the law, so it’s uncertain if it will have enough support to pass in its final form.
This is a significant matter. Before voting to move on with the debate, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., stated on the floor that we should have a debate and amendments. This is not a vote on the measure itself, but to remind my colleagues. We should have a debate and make adjustments, according to the motion to advance.
As the party reassesses its stance on immigration after being politically hammered over the subject, several Democrats indicated that they would be willing to back the proposal. According to exit polls from NBC News, voters in the 2024 election were nine percentage points more likely to trust Donald Trump than Kamala Harris to handle immigration. Additionally, exit polls showed that voters who listed immigration as their top issue supported Trump 89% to 9% more than Harris.
Under the Laken Riley Act, federal law would be changed to mandate that Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, detain individuals who are in the country unlawfully and for offenses related to theft. According to the bill language, it would target those who have been charged, arrested, or found guilty of larceny, shoplifting, burglary, or theft.
Additionally, if the State or its citizens suffer injury, including financial harm exceeding $100, the measure would provide state attorneys general the authority to sue the federal government for any immigration enforcement failures.
Some Democrats, such as Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona, John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, who represent border communities or battleground states, have given the bill their full support.
A spokesman for Sen. Ossoff, who is seeking reelection in 2026, said Thursday that the senator is in favor of the Laken Riley Act and intends to vote in favor of it.
Riley, 22, a nursing school student from Georgia who was killed by an illegal immigrant in the United States last year, would have been 23 on Friday. The law, the first of the new Congress sworn in last week, was named in her honor.
This week, it cleared the GOP-controlled House 264-159, with 48 Democrats supporting it. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, and in order to guarantee the ultimate passage of the act as written, at least seven Democrats would need to be present next week.
Democrats hold the opinion that although the current plan is badly drafted, it can be saved with changes.
Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, stated, “I believe there is a chance to get on the bill and try to try to amend it to be better.” It appears that the underlying measure is a poorly written piece of legislation. But we might be able to improve it.
According to a Senate aide, Democrats are thinking of changing the wording to make it clearer what constitutes an illegal person’s ICE detention. At the moment, it encompasses anyone who is accused of, arrested for, found guilty of, or confesses to committing any of the fundamental components of a burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting violation.
The aide emphasized that Democrats intend to engage in a serious way to improve it rather than making extravagant requests, saying, “I think we’re getting it to a better place to make people feel more comfortable that, like, this really is just going to target the people doing bad s— and not used in a potentially nefarious way.”
“This is where voters continue to move, and good elected officials continue to listen to them,” the Senate Democratic aide said, indicating that the party has been open to discussing stricter border regulations for some time.
The bill would need to return to the House for final passage if the Senate included revisions. If it isn’t changed, it’s unclear if it would receive enough votes to pass.
Pro-immigration activists are urging Democrats to remove the clause that gives state attorneys general the authority to file lawsuits against the federal government, claiming that it will be abused by dishonest people.
This isn’t the bill if they want to demonstrate that they take border security seriously. Kerri Talbot, a former Senate Democratic counsel and executive director of the advocacy organization Immigration Hub, said this is a trap. They only need to read the law to realize that it is unconstitutional, endangers long-term residents, and allows the nation’s Ken Paxtons to target families. (Texas Attorney General Paxton is a border-hawk.)
In order to satisfy conservatives who want to address the border right away and to pressure Democrats into taking difficult votes, Republicans want to introduce a number of immigration bills in the House and Senate in the upcoming weeks in addition to the Laken Riley Act.
According to a second Democratic aide, the political landscape surrounding the matter is evolving.
The aide, who discussed the delicate subject on condition of anonymity, wrote in a text message, “I believe that for a long time, Democrats have allowed the advocacy groups to push them to the left on immigration and border security issues: pushing them to oppose even popular immigration/border security reforms because it could lead to any deportation.” Democrats must make it plain that they are against criminals, even if that means deporting an illegal immigrant who has committed a crime, as the results of the most recent election shown.
When asked why he believes more Democrats are supporting the Laken Riley Act, Fetterman walked off the floor.
He described it as a “blining flash of common sense.”