Congress Passes Laken Riley Act, Heading to Trump for Signature
The Laken Riley Act originally passed the House with 159 Democrats voting against it, but it had more than enough support to move to the Senate.
The bill then had some small adjustments in the Senate, where it passed 64-35, with 12 Democrats joining the GOP to pass the bill in a bipartisan fashion.
When the bill was returned to the House, the new version passed 263-156, and now it is headed to Donald Trump’s desk, where it will be the first piece of legislation he signs into law as the 47th president of the United States.
Sign That Bill
The bill was named after Lakey Riley, an Augusta University nursing student who was murdered on a walking-running trail on the campus of the University of Georgia.
She was killed by an illegal immigrant, creating outrage on the right, which resulted in the crafting of this legislation.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) stated, “Today we’re going to send to President Trump’s desk his very first bill to sign into law.
“You look at the contrast between last Congress, where we passed the same bill, and Chuck Schumer made it clear that in the Democrats’ Senate, they had no desire to stand up for women who were assaulted by people here illegally. Joe Biden would not have signed that bill.”
The new bill will require illegal immigrants to be detained who have engaged in a variety of crimes, including “burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.”
There were also amendments added to the bill to ensure violent criminals are detained and/or deported.
Some Democrats have balked because these lower-level crimes are included in the bill, but if they are breaking the law, they should be sent back.
And let’s not forget, the second they cross over the border illegally, they have already broken our laws.
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) was among those who did not support the legislation, stating, “This bill comes with an astronomical price tag and will create more problems than it solves. It will make our immigration system more chaotic and our country less safe.”
Yes, allowing illegal immigrant criminals to remain in the country makes it less safe… I would love to see how he can justify that statement.
As far as I am concerned, they should all be deported, but if they commit a crime, any crime, they should surely be deported.
I 100% back this legislation.
