WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Monday to pass an immigration crackdown bill, the first piece of legislation congressional Republicans are hoping to send newly sworn-in President Donald Trump for a signature.
The vote for final passage of the Laken Riley Act was 64-35, with 12 Democrats joining Republicans to approve it.
The bill, which was amended in the Senate last week, will be sent back to the Republican-led House for another vote, where it is expected to pass easily before going to Trump’s desk to become law. The House passed a version of the bill 264-159 earlier this month, with 48 Democrats voting in support of it.
“It sends a message that we recognize the concerns that Americans have had out there with what has happened at the southern border,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., told NBC News. “And this is a message that we’re going to clean up our own laws inside and we’re going to make America safer.”
The Democrats who voted yes were Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.; Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.; Mark Warner, D-Va., and Raphael Warnock, D-Ga.
While speaking in the Capitol on Monday after his inaugural address, Trump appeared to refer to the Laken Riley Act, named after a Georgia nursing school student who was murdered last year by an undocumented immigrant, noting that it has considerable Democratic support.
“It’s going to be a very beautiful bill. We’re going to have a signing, I would say, within a week or so,” Trump said.
The measure, originally introduced in the Senate by Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to take custody and detain undocumented immigrants who are charged, arrested or convicted for committing acts of “burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.”
The Senate approved two amendments to the legislation prior to final passage: one from Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, that adds assault of a law enforcement officer to the offenses that trigger detention, and another from Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, that expands that to acts causing death or bodily harm.
It also empowers state attorneys general to sue the federal government for alleged failures to enforce immigration laws, “if the State or its residents experience harm, including financial harm in excess of $100,” according to the text.
Critics say the bill would open the door to drastic changes to the system by stripping away due process for migrants who are accused — but not convicted — of crimes like shoplifting. They also warn that it would empower state attorneys general to shape enforcement.
Democrats tried to strip out the provision empowering state prosecutors, which Republicans shot down.
“We didn’t have the votes. That’s how democracy works,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a supporter of the Laken Riley Act, said of the amendment. “Public safety is a major concern of mine. I represent a border state. And it’s the right thing to do.”
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., a co-sponsor of the Laken Riley Act, acknowledged Monday that the legislation would not shield “Dreamers” — young people brought to the country as children — from mandatory detention if arrested or arrested for those offenses.
“Not in this one, no,” Fetterman said when asked if there’s anything in the bill that protects minors and Dreamers.
Fetterman also said, “That’s my goal. I would want to be able to protect the Dreamers.”
