Laken Riley Act clears critical hurdle in US Senate

WASHINGTON

The US Senate voted to advance the Laken Riley Act on Friday, clearing a critical procedural hurdle.

Senators voted 61-35 on the bill which requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to take into custody immigrants without legal status, who have been charged in the US with theft, burglary and for other purposes.

The legislation is on its way to Senate passage in the coming days. It will be on track to be the first bill passed out of the 119th Congress.

However, because the bill was amended, it would need to go back to the House for a final vote before heading to incoming President Donald Trump's desk.

The bill is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student who was murdered in Georgia last year by a migrant who was in the US illegally.

Riley's murder drew national attention to the immigration debate after officials announced that her killer, Jose Antonio Ibarra, was a Venezuelan citizen who had illegally entered the country at the US-Mexico border in 2022.

Trump and the Republican Party used Riley's death as part of their campaign’s rallying cry during the presidential election to demand stricter immigration policies at the southern border.

WASHINGTON

The US Senate voted to advance the Laken Riley Act on Friday, clearing a critical procedural hurdle.

The legislation is on its way to Senate passage in the coming days. It will be on track to be the first bill passed out of the 119th Congress.

However, because the bill was amended, it would need to go back to the House for a final vote before heading to incoming President Donald Trump's desk.

The bill is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student who was murdered in Georgia last year by a migrant who was in the US illegally.

Trump and the Republican Party used Riley's death as part of their campaign’s rallying cry during the presidential election to demand stricter immigration policies at the southern border.