In a bipartisan 64-35 vote, the US Senate passed the Laken Riley Act and sent it back to the House. The bill is expected to pass easily early next week and become the first piece of legislation to hit President Trump’s desk.
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The bill, named after 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was murdered by a beneficiary of Joe Biden’s criminal catch-and-don’t-give-a-crap policy, required the Department of Homeland Security to detain an illegal accused of certain, mostly violent, offenses. Her name became synonymous with a broken Southern Border and a metaphor for an administration that really didn’t care if Americans lived or died.
All Republicans voted for passage of the bill and were joined by twelve Democrats: Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.; Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.; Mark Warner, D-Va., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.
The House now has to reconcile its bill with the version the Senate has passed:
The measure, originally introduced in the Senate by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to take custody and detain undocumented immigrants who are charged, arrested or convicted for committing acts of “burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.”
The Senate approved two amendments to the legislation prior to final passage: one from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, that adds assault of a law enforcement officer to the offenses that trigger detention, and another from Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, that expands that to acts causing death or bodily harm.
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This is a strong start for the Senate under John Thune, who will hopefully bring new energy to an institution that has done little but complain and raise money from complaining under the leadership of Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer.
