Senate Passes Laken Riley Act in Bipartisan Vote

An amended version of the Laken Riley Act passed through the Senate Monday night with bipartisan support in a vote of 64 to 35.  

“We are a proud nation of immigrants. We are also a nation of laws, and the lawlessness ends today,” Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt, who led the reintroduction of the Laken Riley Act in the Senate, said on the Senate floor ahead of the bill’s passage.  

The bill, named after Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was murdered by an illegal alien from Venezuela in February 2024, requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest and detain illegal aliens charged with theft. The bill also gives states permission to sue federal officials who fail to enforce immigration laws.    

Additionally, the Senate voted to adopt two amendments to the bill.  

In a vote Monday, the Senate approved Sen. Joni Ernst’s amendment, known as Sarah’s Law. The amendment expands the bill to also prioritize the arrest of illegal aliens charged with crimes causing death or serious bodily injury.  

Ernst, R-Iowa, named the amendment after Sarah Root, a 21-year-old who was killed in 2016 by a drunk driver who was in the country illegally.  

On Wednesday, the Senate also voted to adopt an amendment to the bill introduced by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, that requires the detainment of illegal aliens charged with assault on a law enforcement officer.  

A dozen Democrats joined their Republican colleagues to pass the bill, according to The Hill, including: Sens. John Fetterman, Pa.; Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, Ariz.; Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen, N.H.; Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, Ga.; Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin, Mich.; Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, Nev.; and Mark Warner, Va. 

The original bill without the amendments passed in the House on Jan. 7, and now the amended bill will go back to the lower chamber for a final vote of approval before being sent to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.  

The Senate’s passage of the bill come just hours after Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the U.S., pledging to sign executive orders to “declare a national emergency at our southern border” and “begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.” 

Trump signed border-related executive orders on his first day in office as a first step to fulfill his campaign promise to secure the border. Almost immediate after Trump took the oath of office, the CBP One app, a mobile application used under the Biden administration to parole illegal aliens into the U.S., stopped working. 

“President Trump has consistently expressed his commitment to stopping the flow of drugs and criminals invading communities across the country,” Sen. Josh Hawley told The Daily Signal. “Shutting down the CBP One app—Biden’s concierge service for illegal immigrants—was a huge step in the right direction.” 

Trump’s border czar Tom Homan is expected to begin carrying out deportations of criminal illegal aliens as soon as this week.

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