President-elect Trump will have an early victory on a key issue during his first week in office after the Senate voted on Friday to advance the Laken Riley Act.



The debate over the immigration policy was ended with a vote of 61-35, squeaking by the 60 vote threshold needed to end debate on the bill and move it to the floor. The legislation is now teed up for a final passage before being sent to the incoming president’s desk for his signature.



The Laken Riley Act, if, as expected, it becomes law, would mandate that immigrants without any legal status caught committing crimes, including theft, burglary, or assaulting a police officer, would be locked up in federal detention.



The bill’s namesake, Laken Riley, was a Georgia nursing student who was murdered by an illegal Venezuelan migrant who was out on parole after a previous shoplifting arrest.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" srcset="https://wp.nysun.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Laken.jpg 1024w, https://wp.nysun.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Laken-300x200.jpg 300w, https://wp.nysun.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Laken-144x96.jpg 144w, https://wp.nysun.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Laken-768x512.jpg 768w" class="wp-image-198409" alt="A supporter holds a poster with a photo of Laken Riley before President Trump speaks at a campaign rally Saturday at Rome Georgia." src="https://wp.nysun.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Laken.jpg" height="683" width="1024" loading="lazy" decoding="async"><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A supporter holds a poster with a photo of Laken Riley at a President Trump campaign rally. AP/Mike Stewart</figcaption></figure>



“This bill is a small but critical step to resolving the Biden border crisis — the first of many I might add,” Senator Thune of South Dakota said in the Senate Chambers before the vote took place.



Democratic lawmakers had been voicing their concern in recent weeks saying that lacking funds to enforce the mandate would prove difficult. Recent estimates from <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/01/16/nx-s1-5262921/laken-riley-act-deportation-ice">Immigration and Customs Enforcement</a> found that the Department of Homeland Security would face costs of $26.9 billion to implement the program and that it “would be impossible for [ICE] to execute within existing resources.”



“We voted on two amendments … and no more,” Senator Schumer of New York said before the vote took place. “Unfortunately, without more changes … to address deficiencies, I’ll be voting ‘no.’”



“While I do not support this particular bill, I stand ready to work with both sides to pass smart, effective, tough and commonsense legislation to secure our borders and reform our immigration system,” Mr. Schumer added.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., stands with Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., right, as Republicans talk about immigration during the senate's weekly policy news conference, at the Capitol, at Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. 

Senate Advances Laken Riley Act, Setting Stage for an  Early Immigration Win for Trump

The bill, named for the Georgia woman murdered by an illegal immigrant, mandates detention of undocumented immigrants for certain crimes clears key hurdle with a 61-35 vote

Senate Advances Laken Riley Act, Setting Stage for an  Early Immigration Win for Trump | The New York Sun

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Senate Advances Laken Riley Act, Setting Stage for an Early Immigration Win for Trump

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