Senate Passes Legislation to Strengthen Enforcement of Immigration Laws

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The United States Senate passed the Laken Riley Act today by a bipartisan vote of 64 to 35. Earlier this month, U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined U.S. Senators Katie Britt (R-AL), Ted Budd (R-NC), John Fetterman (D-PA), and Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) in reintroducing the legislation.

Upon implementation, the Laken Riley Act would require the detention of illegal immigrants charged with property-related crimes and provide states with the tools to hold federal officials accountable for failing to enforce immigration laws. The Senate adopted an amendment by U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) requiring ICE to detain illegal immigrants charged with crimes causing death or serious bodily harm. This amendment included a provision by U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) requiring ICE to detain illegal immigrants who assaulted a law enforcement officer.

The amended legislation, which previously passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 264 to 159, will now head back to the House for consideration.

"Every crime committed by illegal immigrants is preventable because they should not be here in the first place," said Cramer. "I commend the Senate for passing this legislation so we can give immigration authorities the tools they need to detain and deport those who break our laws to ensure atrocities like Laken Riley's murder don't happen again."

The legislation was named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student tragically killed by an illegal immigrant while jogging in Athens, Ga. Her killer, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, had been released into the United States in 2022 by the Biden administration, despite violating immigration parole and detention requirements under federal immigration law. Before committing this heinous act, he had been convicted of theft in Georgia but was not detained or deported due to gaps in enforcement. This legislation directly addresses these failures by ensuring individuals like her killer, who commit theft and other serious crimes, are detained and deported before they can cause further harm. If the Laken Riley Act had been law, he would have been detained and deported prior to committing murder.

Data released by ICE show as of July 21, 2024, nearly 650,000 criminal illegal immigrants were currently on ICE's Non-Detained Docket and were released into the United States. This figure includes roughly 15,000 individuals convicted of or charged with murder, more than 20,000 of sexual assault, and more than 105,000 of assault.

Click here for bill text.