WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted Monday to move forward with considering a bill that would impose up-to-date mandatory detention requirements for immigrants accused of property crimes and provide broad legal standing for state attorneys general.
W 82-10 votemost Senate Democrats (32) and one independent joined the Republicans.
Nine Democrats voted against the bill, P. 5that’s the point. Tina Smith of Minnesota, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Andy Kim and Cory Booker of New Jersey, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. This was opposed by independent Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor that the bill, named after 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, is a “common sense move that should be an unquestioning yes” to every senator.
Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old immigrant from Venezuela, was charged and convicted last month of Riley’s murder. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ibarra allegedly entered the country illegally in 2022 and was previously arrested in Georgia on shoplifting charges and later released.
“It would be extremely disappointing if Democrats moved forward with the bill simply trying to burden it with poison pills or unrelated measures,” said Thune, a Republican from South Dakota.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor that Democrats will “ask our Republican colleagues for an opportunity to debate and vote on the amendments. I hope my Republican colleagues will allow this.”
Republicans have introduced a bill that would require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to impose mandatory detention on immigrants accused or arrested of local theft, burglary or shoplifting, which, among other things, means they cannot be released on bail.
The bill, which seeks to bring noncitizens into the country without proper authorization, could also cover immigrants with discretionary legal status, such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Additionally, the bill gives state attorneys general broad legal standing to challenge federal immigration law, Department of State visa policies, and immigration judges’ bail decisions.
Last weekThirty-two Senate Democrats and one independent voted with Republicans for a procedural motion to introduce the bill. It’s the same bill the House passed last year, but Schumer never brought it to a vote when Democrats controlled the upper chamber.
The House passed its bill last week, gaining more Democratic support this time, 48 compared to 37 the first time around, after an election in which border security was a top issue for President-elect Donald Trump.
Last updated at 19:25, January 13, 2025
