The “Laken Riley Act,” which seeks to crack down on illegal border crossers committing violent crimes against American citizens, has been passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Fox News reports that the Laken Riley Act passed despite a large number of House Democrats voting against the bill.
The legislation is named after the 22-year-old Laken Riley.
Riley was a University of Georgia nursing student who was brutally murdered by an illegal alien who entered the country due to Democrat President Joe Biden’s open border policies.
The innocent young woman died from blunt force trauma to the head.
The incident took place while she was jogging near a lake on the university’s campus.
The alleged murderer is Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal alien who was released into the United States interior after he was caught crossing the border.
The Washington Examiner reports that the ” Venezuelan immigrant . . . had been arrested in 2022 for illegally crossing the border.”
Fox further reports:
Before being charged with felony murder, Ibarra was once arrested in New York for endangering a child, and he was cited in Georgia for misdemeanor shoplifting in October 2023 along with his brother, Diego Ibarra.
Many have blamed Biden’s open border policies for Riley’s murder.
These policies have allowed illegal immigrants such as Ibarra to not only enter America but to remain in the country.
The legislation was introduced by Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA).
According to Collins’ webpage, the Laken Riley Act has three purposes.
“[First] it condemns President Joe Biden’s border policies, including catch and release, and calls on him to reinstate ‘Remain in Mexico.'” Collins writes.
“[Second] it would amend federal law to require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to issue detainers and take custody of illegal aliens who commit theft-related crimes, such as shoplifting, as defined by state and local law.”
Finally, Collins states that the bill “allows state Attorneys General to sue the Secretary of Homeland Security for injunctive relief if immigration actions such as parole, violation of detention requirements, or other policy failures harm that state or its citizens.”
In essence, the act tries to prevent from happened again what happened to Riley.
The House passed the Laken Riley Act on Thursday by a vote of 251 to 170.
The 251 figure includes all House Republicans and 37 House Democrats.
170 Democrats voted against the bill.
Collins celebrated the legislation’s passage, and, now, he is calling upon the U.S. Senate to also pass the bill.
On his X account, he wrote:
“The senseless murder of Laken Riley by Jose Ibarra, who had no business being in this country, was another wakeup call as Americans experience an illegal alien crime wave because of Joe Biden’s open border and local sanctuary city policies.
“I now urge the Senate to take up this bill immediately.”
It remains to be seen whether the upper chamber, under the leadership of Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), will do so.
It is also unclear whether enough senators would support the bill to get it through the Senate.
The Democrats do have the majority in the upper chamber.
It has also become increasingly apparent that open borders are part of the Democrats’ long-term strategy.
