House passes bill to hold migrants accused of theft
Georgia student’s death impetus behind the act
WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday passed a bill that would require federal authorities to detain unauthorized immigrants who have been accused of theft, as Republicans seized on the recent death of a nursing student in Georgia to rebuke President Joe Biden’s border policies just hours ahead of his State of the Union address.
After 22-year-old Laken Riley, an Augusta University nursing student, was killed late last month while on a morning run, Republicans rushed the “Laken Riley Act” to the House floor to coincide with Biden’s annual address.
The legislation easily passed 251-170 with all Republicans and 37 Democrats voting for it. But the nine-page bill was designed more to deliver a political point than to enact law and had little chance of being taken up in the Senate.
As immigration becomes a top issue in the presidential election, Republicans are using nearly every tool at their disposal — including impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — to condemn how the president has handled immigration. But Biden is also hammering GOP lawmakers for rejecting a bipartisan bill last month that sought to tamp down the number of illegal crossings at the U.S. border with Mexico.
“Republicans will not stand for the release of dangerous criminals into our communities, and that’s exactly what the Biden administration has done,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News.
Riley’s death has become a rallying point for Donald Trump, the likely GOP presidential nominee, after authorities arrested on murder and assault charges Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case. He has not yet entered a plea to the charges.
U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement said Ibarra was arrested by New York police in August and charged with acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation. Ibarra was released before ICE could ask New York officials to hold him until immigration authorities could take him into custody, ICE said. New York officials have said they have no record of the arrest.
The legislation would also allow states to sue the federal government if they can demonstrate harm caused by immigrants who enter the country illegally. It was part of a broader push by Republicans to deride immigrants who enter the U.S. illegally and tie them to violent crimes.