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By Nick Mordowanec
Staff Writer
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The House on Thursday passed the Laken Riley Act, with the Republican-introduced legislation garnering support from 37 Democrats.
The bill, which passed 251-170, was introduced by Georgia Representative Mike Collins, a Republican, in memory of the slain 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student whose body was found in a wooded area in Athens, Georgia. Collins is urging the Senate to pass the legislation.
The homicide was allegedly committed by 26-year-old Venezuelan migrant Jose Antonio Ibarra, who was charged with murder and several other felony counts. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) later confirmed that the suspect was arrested in 2022 for illegally crossing into the United States.
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President Joe Biden has received criticism from Republicans for not mentioning Riley in the wake of her killing and not invoking her name in recent speeches involving national crime rates and law enforcement. He is expected to discuss immigration and border security during Thursday night's State of the Union address as the issue looms large for Republicans, who are trying to reclaim the White House and Senate in November.
"As Joe Biden comes to the Capitol tonight to defend his atrocious record, the House is voting to rebuke him for the open-border policies that led directly to Laken Riley's murder," Collins said on the House floor.
The House Democrats who supported the bill are:
- Colin Allred (Texas)
- Nikki Budzinski (Illinois)
- Yadira Caraveo (Colorado)
- Matt Cartwright (Pennsylvania)
- Jim Costa (California)
- Joe Courtney (Connecticut)
- Angie Craig (Minnesota)
- Henry Cuellar (Texas)
- Sharice Davids (Kansas)
- Donald Davis (North Carolina)
- Chris Deluzio (Pennsylvania)
- Ruben Gallego (Arizona)
- Maria Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington)
- Jared Golden (Maine)
- Vicente Gonzalez (Texas)
- Josh Gottheimer (New Jersey)
- Josh Harder (California)
- Jahana Hayes (Connecticut)
- Steven Horsford (Nevada)
- Jeff Jackson (North Carolina)
- Marcy Kaptur (Ohio)
- Greg Landsman (Ohio)
- Susie Lee (Nevada)
- Mike Levin (California)
- Stephen Lynch (Massachusetts)
- Frank Mrvan (Indiana)
- Chris Pappas (New Hampshire)
- Mary Peltola (Alaska)
- Hillary Scholten (Michigan)
- Kim Schrier (Washington)
- Elissa Slotkin (Michigan)
- Eric Sorensen (Illinois)
- Greg Stanton (Arizona)
- Tom Suozzi (New York)
- Emilia Sykes (Ohio)
- Dina Titus (Nevada)
- Susan Wild (Pennsylvania).
The legislation requires Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas "to take into custody aliens who have been charged in the United States with theft, and for other purposes."
It also chastises Biden and top officials, including Mayorkas and Vice President Kamala Harris, for not denouncing their own border policies or arresting and detaining Ibarra after his previous run-ins with law enforcement.
"President Biden should prevent another murder like that of Laken Riley by ending the catch-and-release of illegal aliens, increasing immigration enforcement, detaining and removing criminal aliens, reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy, ending his abuse of parole authority, and securing the United States borders," the bill states.
House Republicans pointed to the lack of Democratic support for the bill as a sign of not caring about public safety.
House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X: "170 House Democrats just voted against the Laken Riley Act, refusing to require the detention and deportation of illegal immigrants who have been caught committing a crime. Sadly, if these Democrats have their way, there will be more victims like Laken Riley."
"Democrats don't care about your safety!" wrote the account for the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise on X: "170 Dems voted against it. Let that sink in: They can't even vote to detain illegals who commit crimes. SHAMEFUL."
New York Representative Jerry Nadler, a Democrat, dismissed the legislation as politically motivated.
"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," Nadler said on the House floor. "This approach is fundamentally unserious."
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