President Donald Trump has simply handed his first immigration invoice.
The invoice, known as the Laken Riley Act, handed the House with a 263-156 vote, garnering help from 46 Democrats. This vote marked a major shift inside the occasion, as Democrats had largely opposed the measure all through a lot of final 12 months.
JUST IN: The House handed an amended model of the Laken Riley Act on a vote of 263-156, teeing up main immigration reform firstly of Pres. Trump’s second administration.
Forty-six Democrats joined Republicans in voting in favor of the invoice. https://t.co/q95j1buhJg pic.twitter.com/4U4s0Wi10l
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 22, 2025
Learn extra beneath.
Who Was Laken Riley?
The act is called after Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing scholar who was tragically murdered final 12 months by a Venezuelan man. Laken was attending Augusta University’s College of Nursing on the time.
The Venezuelan man, recognized as Jose Ibarra, was convicted in November 2024 of homicide, aggravated assault with intent to rape, and several other different crimes. He was sentenced to life in jail with out the opportunity of parole.
What Is the Laken Riley Act?
The Laken Riley Act is a invoice that mandates the detention and deportation of unauthorized immigrants accused of theft or violent crimes. Under the invoice, the Department of Homeland Security could be chargeable for detaining people with out authorized standing who’re charged with sure offenses.
While a number of felony offenses already function grounds for deportation, critics argue that the invoice bypasses the present follow of ready for a conviction earlier than initiating the elimination course of.
The invoice is on observe to grow to be regulation, however even the federal businesses chargeable for implementing it have raised issues. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), one of many main businesses in command of dealing with deportations, has identified a number of challenges in implementing the regulation, together with the necessity for extra officers and the shortage of enough detention house for offenders. Earlier this month, ICE despatched a memo to lawmakers warning that the invoice could be “impossible to execute with existing resources” and estimated that its implementation may price round $26 billion.
What Major Executive Orders Has Trump Signed So Far?
President Trump wasted no time pursuing his targets upon returning to the White House, signing a report 26 government orders on Inauguration Day.
Many of those centered on reversing actions taken by the Biden administration, together with rescinding 78 government orders. Key areas of focus included immigration—resembling declaring a “national emergency” on the U.S.-Mexico border and ending birthright citizenship—in addition to modifications to LGBTQ+ protections, the federal workforce, and extra.
Trump additionally signed an order withdrawing the U.S., the world’s second-largest greenhouse fuel emitter, from the Paris Climate Agreement.