Senate Democrats Coming Around for Laken Riley Act

This week, House Republicans created some buzz with the Laken Riley Act.  

Because this is non-budgetary legislation, it will need 60 votes to pass in the Senate.  

Right now, there are 53 Republicans in the Senate, so they need seven more to support the legislation, and they are getting very close to having that support.  

The Laken Riley Act 

The bill, which is named after Laken Riley, who was killed by an illegal immigrant on the University of Georgia campus, has two major purposes.  

First, the bill would “amend federal law to require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to issue detainers and take custody of illegal aliens who commit theft-related crimes, such as shoplifting, as defined by state and local law.” 

Second, it would allow “state attorneys general to sue the Secretary of Homeland Security for injunctive relief if immigration actions such as parole, violation of detention requirements, or other policy failures harm that state or its citizens.” 

The legislation passed with significant bipartisan support in the House, but there were still more than 150 Democrats who voted against the legislation.  

In the Senate, we know the bill has at least three Democrat senators that will support it.  

Those are Senators Fetterman (D-PA), Gallego (D-AZ), and Peters (D-MI).  

If that support holds firm, they only need another four votes to pass the legislation, and the whispers in DC are that they are getting very close.  

I don’t expect Senate Majority Leader Thune (R-S.D.) to put this on the floor until he knows he has enough votes to support it, but that could be soon. 

Word is that Senators Kelly (D-AZ) and Rosen (D-NV) are also going to support the legislation, which would put the number at 58, leaving Thune with only two more votes to secure before they could pass it.  

My guess here is that Democrats will try to amend this in some way to get support of the caucus, but if Thune can convince two more border Democrats or states being impacted by migrant crime, such as New York or Illinois, this could pass as is.  

I have no problem if the GOP throws the Dems a small bone here, but I want those two major points to stay intact.  

Considering the results of the 2024 election, any Democrat that does not support this is putting a target on their head in the next election because you better believe any no vote is going to be in an election ad next go-around.