Senate Set To Vote on Laken Riley Act, Though Its Unclear If It Can Meet 60-Vote Threshold

The Senate will vote on final passage of the Laken Riley Act on Friday after a short amendment process that saw all Democratic-led amendments fail. The legislation, if it passes — which is not yet guaranteed — will then require another vote in the House before heading to President Trump’s desk next week. The bill, named for a murdered University of Georgia student Laken Riley, would require the Department of Homeland Security to detain illegal immigrants who are accused of crimes like theft or burglary. If the migrant who is detained does not have legal protection to stay in the country, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement would deport them once DHS has them in custody. Senator Cornyn successfully passed an amendment on Wednesday night which would add “assault of a law enforcement officer offense” and “any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person” to the list of detainable, and deportable, offenses. On that amendment, 21 Democrats voted yes — a good sign for those who are supporting final passage. Democrats and civil rights groups have raised concerns about the legislation because it only requires migrants to be charged with crimes, not even convicted. The longest-serving Democrat in the chamber, Senator Murray, took to the floor on Thursday to highlight what she sees as the dangers of the bill. “Under this bill, you don’t even have to be found guilty of a felony to be detained and deported. That is a huge attack on due process,” Ms. Murray said. “All you need is to be arrested or charged, regardless of whether that is as small as shoplifting a candy bar.”Another provision of the bill would allow state attorneys general to sue the government in court over immigration processes, which some have warned could result in the suspension of visa issuances for entire countries. An amendment from Senator Coons that would have struck that provision from the bill was voted down by the Senate on Wednesday night. As of Thursday night, there are no more amendment votes scheduled for the Laken Riley Act, though the Republican leader, Senator Thune, could make a deal with Democrats to vote on one or two more before the cloture vote, which requires 60 votes in favor in order to bypass the filibuster. On Thursday night, one of the two lead sponsors of the bill, Senator Britt, told The New York Sun that Mr. Thune was still mulling his options at the time. The other lead sponsor of the legislation in the Senate, Senator Budd, told the Sun that he hoped the legislation could reach the 60-vote threshold for final passage, though was not positive that it would. “I sure hope so,” Mr. Budd told the Sun when asked if he thinks the bill will pass. “What we don’t want is them to use not getting an amendment through as an excuse not to vote for final passage. It’s the right bill at the right time.”Democrats overwhelmingly voted last week to proceed to the debate and amendment processes, with many saying that they would wait until the outcome of the amendment votes to see how they would vote on final passage. So far, just a few Democratic senators have said they will vote to bypass the filibuster, which requires 60 votes, and proceed to the vote on final passage. Senator Peters, who is up for re-election next year, said he would support the bill regardless of the amendment outcomes. Senator Slotkin said the same, arguing that voters in Michigan delivered a message to Washington in November with Trump’s victory in the state, arguing that it signaled her state’s desire for a crackdown on migrant crime. Senator Ossoff, who is also up for re-election in what could be the marquee race of 2026, has not yet committed to voting for the bill on final passage. Senator Gallego, who just joined the chamber less than two weeks ago, says he will vote for the final bill. Senator Fetterman was the first Democrat to co-sponsor the legislation, saying that Trump had won a mandate and that Democrats should get on board with a tougher crackdown on migrants here in America. “It’s really common sense,” Mr. Fetterman said. “We have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of migrants here illegally that have [been] convicted of crimes. Who wants to allow them to remain in our nation?”

Senate Set To Vote on Laken Riley Act, Though Its Unclear If It Can Meet 60-Vote Threshold

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