House passes Laken Riley Act, again

The U.S. House of Representatives advanced the reintroduced Laken Riley Act on Tuesday with a 264-159 vote, marking the first bill passed by the House as part of the 119th Congress. It now moves on to the Senate. The House previously passed the bill when it was first proposed in 2024, but it failed in the then Democratically controlled Senate.

The bill was proposed last year, after an illegal migrant murdered 22-year-old nursing student, Laken Riley. Jose Ibarra was convicted of the murder in late November and sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole. Ibarra received temporary permission to stay in the United States after being captured by the U.S. Border Patrol in 2022, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The murder sparked a national outcry against what many perceived as the Biden administration’s poor border enforcement.

What would the Laken Riley bill do? Undocumented migrants who commit burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting must be detained by immigration authorities under the proposed legislation. The measure would allow states to sue the secretary of Homeland Security for failing to enforce immigration laws. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson released a statement after the House passed the bill on Tuesday emphasizing the bill’s importance. Local police previously apprehended Ibarra for shoplifting and if ICE had only taken him into custody, Laken would still be alive, he said.

The legislation initially passed in the House in 2024 with support from 37 democrats before failing to pass in the Senate. Tuesday’s vote showed nearly a dozen Democrats switch their stance on the measure, with a total of 48 blue representatives voting against party lines. The measure once again moves to the Senate for further approval.

Is it expected to pass the Senate this time? Republicans now hold the Senate majority, leading many to believe the bill will pass. However, the act will need 60 votes to pass, meaning that at least eight Democrats will need to support the bill’s passage.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report on Ibarra’s 2024 indictment for more details on the case.