CV NEWS FEED // Exactly two weeks after a University of Georgia (UGA) nursing student was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant, the House passed legislation named in her honor.
The Laken Riley Act, or HR 7511, passed the chamber by a 251-170 margin Thursday. Thirty-seven Democrats joined all voting Republicans in support of the bill. The remaining 170 Democrats voted against it.
FOX News reported that the legislation “would require federal immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants charged with local theft or burglary.”
FOX White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich noted on X (formerly Twitter) that “Jose Ibarra, the Venezuelan migrant accused of murdering Laken Riley, was cited for shoplifting and endangering a child before being released.”
Rep. Mike Collins, R-GA, sponsored the bill. Collins represents the UGA campus in Athens, GA – the site of Riley’s murder.
“IT’S OFFICIAL: The Laken Riley Act has passed the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis,” the congressman wrote on X Thursday afternoon. “37 Democrats joined all Republicans in support of this bill and condemning Joe Biden’s handling of our southern border!”
“I now urge the Senate to take up this bill immediately,” Collins continued. “Please help us ensure justice for Laken and give ICE more tools to detain and deport criminal illegal aliens before they commit more serious crimes.”
The vote came hours before Biden gave his 2024 State of the Union Address to a Joint Session of Congress.
Each member of Congress has the opportunity to bring a guest to each State of the Union. Collins previously remarked that his guest seat would remain empty “in honor of Laken Riley and all Americans who have lost their lives to an illegal alien criminal.”
The Hill noted that Rep. Jim Banks, R-IN, “penned a letter to the president this week urging him to say the Georgia student’s name during his remarks.”
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Most of the Democratic lawmakers who voted for the bill are considered to represent the more “moderate” wing of the party. Many face tough re-election races this November.
None of Georgia’s five House Democrats supported the legislation.
Prominent Democrats who voted in favor include Reps. Colin Allred, D-TX, Ruben Gallego, D-AZ, and Jeff Jackson, D-NC, who are all running in hotly contested statewide races this November.
On Tuesday, Democratic primary voters nominated Allred to take on incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX. Gallego is the likely Democratic nominee in Arizona’s open U.S. Senate race, where incumbent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-AZ, is retiring.
Observers consider both races important to the Democrats’ chances of maintaining control of the upper chamber.
Meanwhile, Jackson won the Democratic nomination for North Carolina’s Attorney General race. His general election opponent is Rep. Dan Bishop, R-NC, widely known as a staunch advocate for socially conservative policy. Incumbent Democratic state Attorney General Josh Stein is the Party’s nominee for governor.
Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-NY, also voted for the legislation. Last month, Suozzi won a special election to replace former Rep. George Santos, R-NY, who was expelled from the House in December.
During his successful campaign to flip the seat, Suozzi campaigned heavily on addressing the ongoing crisis at the nation’s southern border. He previously served in Congress from 2017 to 2023.
Another notable name among the bill’s Democratic supporters was Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-TX. Cuellar represents a district on the border and has on multiple occasions confronted Biden over immigration policy.
“I represent an area where it’s almost 80% Hispanic, a lot of Democrats,” the congressman said during a January FOX News interview. “There’s some Democrats who tell me, ‘I’m voting for you, Henry, but I’m voting Republican because of the border issue.’”
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However, unlike the 37 dissenting lawmakers, the majority of House Democrats opposed Collins’ bill.
House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jerry Nadler, D-NY, called the effort to reduce crime caused by illegal migrants a “partisan, political stunt.”
“Republicans appear to have just thrown together language from existing, unrelated bills that target and scapegoat immigrants to score cheap political points in an election year while doing nothing to address the situation at the border,” the high-ranking Democrat claimed during a speech on the House floor.
Nadler’s congressional district is entirely based in New York City, which in recent months has experienced a massive surge of migrants, accompanied by a crime wave.
CatholicVote on Wednesday reported that Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is “sending the New York State Police and National Guard to monitor the Big Apple’s crime-plagued subway system.”
“The news comes after Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams decried migrant crime and called for changes to the city’s ‘sanctuary’ status,” CatholicVote added.
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