House Passes Laken Riley Act: Awaiting Trump’s Decision on Immigration Bill

House Passes Laken Riley Act: The US House of Representatives approved the Laken Riley Act on Wednesday, a landmark immigration detention bill named after a Georgia nursing student who was killed by an undocumented immigrant in 2023.

The US Congress has passed a bill requiring undocumented immigrants who are arrested for theft or violent crimes to be held in jail pending trial.

The measure cruised through the House by a vote of 263 to 156. Forty-six Democrats defied their party leadership and crossed the political aisle to support the Republican-led measure. In the Senate, 12 Democrats gave their support to the bill.

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It now heads to the White House for President Donald Trump to sign into law - an early legislative win for his fledgling administration on a bill named after a woman whom he often invoked during his campaign.

The death of Riley, a 22-year-old woman who was murdered by Jose Ibarra, an undocumented immigrant, on Feb. 22, 2024, fueled the immigration debate in the United States and became a lightning rod issue for Trump on the campaign trail.

Ibarra had illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 but was allowed to stay in the U.S. while his case was ongoing, and he had been charged with misdemeanor shoplifting while living in Georgia.

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The legislation will require immigration officers to detain undocumented immigrants who are suspected of minor criminal offenses, including shoplifting.

It also grants power to attorneys general to sue the federal government if they can show their states are being harmed over failure to implement national immigration policies, as well as allows states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to citizens allegedly due to illegal immigration.

"We're putting the safety and security of Americans first with this commonsense piece of legislation, so it's a big deal," Alabama Sen. Katie Britt said Wednesday. "Whether it's from fentanyl overdoses or whether it is the tragedy that occurred to Laken Riley or Rachel Morin or Jocelyn Nungaray or its countless number of people today, we said we hear you to the American people."

The new law is in line with President Donald Trump's stance on immigration as he signed executive orders on his first day in office announcing mass deportations, sending US troops to the country's southern border to prevent illegal crossings.

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