As the Republican-led Congress prepares to carry out his agenda, President Donald Trump signed an immigration detention bill into law on Wednesday, his first legislative victory of his second term.
Last Wednesday, the House finally approved the bill by a vote of 263-156, with 46 Democrats voting with the Republicans. Twelve Democrats broke with their party to support the proposal, which also cleared the Senate last week by a vote of 64-35.
Trump thanked the Republican and Democratic members who pushed the bill to his desk and began his speech with a victory lap, claiming that his immigration program was the reason he won the election.
“That is the reason I am here rather than someone else. In fact, it’s the main reason,” Trump stated during his speech in the White House’s East Wing, praising the “landmark” bill that he claimed was “going to save countless innocent American lives.”
In addition to praising Riley’s parents and sister for attending the bill signing, the president lauded Riley as a beacon of kindness and warmth and said that the cause had united Republicans and Democrats.
Trump responded, “That’s not easy to do.” It was Laken. America will always remember Laken. Riley, I hope.
The Laken Riley Act, named for the nursing school student who was slain in Athens, Georgia, last year, was drafted by Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga. After being found guilty of her murder, a Venezuelan national who had entered the country illegally was given a life sentence without the chance of release.
Trump claimed that Riley’s killer was freed in 2023 after getting charged in New York and again after stealing in Georgia.
The president praised the measure as a flawless, amazing homage to an extraordinary young woman and claimed it will save countless lives.
According to the statute, undocumented immigrants who are arrested, charged, or convicted of burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting must be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Our hope is that her life will save lives. Allyson Phillips, Riley’s mother, said while crying.
Phillips commended Trump for being a man of his word and urged others to have faith in his commitment to defend the American people.
Trump frequently invoked 26-year-old Jose Ibarra, the migrant found guilty in the case, throughout the campaign trail last year to criticize the border policies of the Biden administration.
In addition, Trump declared on Wednesday that he would direct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to start preparing a 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay to house the most dangerous illegal aliens posing a threat to the American people. He described the facility as a difficult place leaving.
The president went on to say, “Some of them are so bad that we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back.” Thus, we will dispatch them to Guantanamo.
In an attempt to save money, he proposed to House Republicans on Monday that “repeat offenders” in the United States could be sent to prison abroad in exchange for a nominal charge.
Voters in the election made immigration a top priority, and several vulnerable Democrats in battleground regions and districts who supported the law have been at odds with their party over it.
Trump has taken other steps to fulfill his pledge to crack down on illegal crossings in his first week in office, including announcing a national emergency at the border that would allow the Defense Department to send the National Guard and soldiers there. In order to stop immigration at the southern border and deport millions of people who entered the country illegally, he has also signed a number of executive measures.
“All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came,” Trump stated during his inaugural address.
The president reiterated that message on Wednesday, saying that the signing of the measure moves the nation one step closer to eradicating crimes committed by criminals who entered the country illegally, or illegal alien murders. Trump stated that Congress could do more and should take action to fully fund the restoration of the U.S. borders and to remove record numbers of illegal aliens while he stood in front of rows of lawmakers, including Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.
Trump paused a refugee resettlement program after he took office, and his administration instructed the Justice Department to look into any state or local officials who were not enforcing immigration rules for potential punishment.
Additionally, Republicans are seeking to provide Trump with $100 billion to finance his proposed crackdown on illegal immigration, according to Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., last week. Without Democratic backing, Republicans are looking into using the budget reconciliation procedure to support Trump’s border security budget.