House passes Laken Riley Act, border security measure heads to Senate

CV NEWS FEED // The House of Representatives Tuesday passed the Laken Riley Act, a comprehensive border security bill named in honor of the University of Georgia (UGA) nursing student who was brutally murdered by an illegal migrant last February.

The bill passed by a 264-159 vote, with all the votes in opposition cast by Democrats. The measure now heads to the Senate, where Republicans presently hold 52 seats. Next week, that number will increase to 53 when Senator-elect Jim Justice, R-WV, takes office.

One Democrat, Sen. John Fetterman, D-PA, has already expressed support for the bill – joining all Senate Republicans. Fetterman has co-sponsored the bill in the Senate alongside Sen. Katie Britt, R-AL.

However, even with Fetterman and Justice, six more Senate Democrats would have to back the bill to avoid a filibuster.

This coming Friday would have been Riley’s 23rd birthday. 

The legislation, also known as H.R. 29, “requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain certain non-U.S. nationals … who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting,” according to an official summary. “The bill also authorizes states to sue the federal government for decisions or alleged failures related to immigration enforcement.”

Riley’s killer, Venezuelan national Jose Ibarra, had been arrested for shoplifting, and released, before taking the 22-year-old student’s life. 

“Laken Riley’s story is a tragic reminder of what’s at stake when our systems fail to protect people,” a statement from Fetterman’s office read. “I support giving authorities the tools to prevent tragedies like this one while we work on comprehensive solutions to our broken system.”

Similarly, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the act would “ensure criminals like Laken’s murderer are detained & deported before they can commit such evil acts.”

The bill was first introduced by Rep. Mike Collins, R-GA, in the immediate aftermath of Riley’s killing last year. Collins represents UGA’s campus, where the gruesome crime took place while Riley was out for a morning jog.

While the House passed the bill two weeks after Riley’s murder with three dozen Democrats breaking ranks, it was still unable to become law, falling short of the requisite votes in the Senate.

This time around, however, Republicans control the Senate and are soon to hold the presidency with President-elect Donald Trump set to take office in just under two weeks. 

In total, 77% – over three-quarters – of the House Democrats who voted on the bill had opposed it. However, 48 Democrats joined all voting Republicans in supporting its passage, an increase from the 37 who had supported its 2024 incarnation.

>> MARCH 2024: HOUSE PASSES LAKEN RILEY ACT TO COMBAT MIGRANT CRIME <<

A total of 11 House lawmakers – three Republicans and eight Democrats – did not vote. One House seat is currently vacant.

The four dozen Democrats who voted in favor of the border security legislation included many members who represent districts Trump carried in November. 

Notably, some of these moderate Trump-district Democrats who voted for the bill have broken with their party on previous occasions. Henry Cuellar, D-TX, Don Davis, D-NC, Jared Golden, D-ME, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-WA, for example, also voted for the bill last year.

All four narrowly won reelection two months ago by running multiple points ahead of Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris.

A chorus of critics, including the incoming president himself, have lambasted the Biden-Harris administration for its perceived unresponsiveness to Riley’s tragic murder.

>> APRIL 2024: BIDEN ADMIN RELEASED RILEY’S KILLER OVER ‘LACK OF DETENTION’ SPACE <<

Last April, the outgoing administration came under fire when Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO, confronted Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas over his department’s release of Ibarra prior to the murder.

CatholicVote reported at the time that the exchange between Hawley and Mayorkas occurred after it became known that DHS “released the illegal migrant who would go on to murder Laken Riley due to a purported ‘lack of detention capacity.’”

“The tense exchange came one day after the Democratic-controlled Senate voted to dismiss both charges of impeachment against Mayorkas, after only a few hours of proceedings,” CatholicVote’s report added.