House Republicans focused their attention on the border with their first bill of the year, passing legislation named after the slain Georgia student Laken Riley that would require detention of migrants arrested for theft.
The legislation cleared the chamber in a 264-159 vote, with 48 Democrats joining all Republicans in support.
The Senate is expected to take up the legislation this week.
Dubbed the Laken Riley Act, the legislation honors the woman killed by a Venezuelan migrant who was arrested for shoplifting ahead of the attack and paroled in the country. Riley’s birthday would have been Friday, which is the same day the Senate may take up the bill.
Tuesday’s vote marked the second time in a year that the House cleared the legislation. Republicans and a small group of Democrats approved the bill in March, but it languished amid opposition in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
With Republicans now holding majorities in both chambers, and President-elect Trump set to be sworn in to the White House later this month, GOP lawmakers are making another attempt at moving the measure.
“We’ve been very focused on border security; the Laken Riley Act makes it clear, if you’re committing crimes in America against people, it’s not going to be tolerated,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) told reporters Tuesday.
“Now with [Senate Majority Leader
John Thune (R-S.D.)] saying he’s gonna bring it up in the Senate as early as this week, we can actually get that bill signed into law.”
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"But it has sparked concern among immigration advocates because the bill requires detention of immigrants as soon as they are charged or arrested for those crimes — not when prosecutors have secured a conviction."
"critics fear migrants would be placed in detention without due process.
“This is a radical departure from current law, which since 1996 has generally required mandatory detention only for persons who are criminally convicted or who admit to having committed certain serious crimes. That is, when criminal guilt is certain and established beyond a reasonable doubt,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee."
For George Floyd, Democrats will riot, build memorials, and defund the police.
For Laken Riley, 159 House Democrats will vote against legislation to prevent similar tragedies from happening.
Every American citizen should be outraged.
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