Laken Riley was a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was abducted and killed on Feb. 22, allegedly by an illegal immigrant, despite that the suspect had been apprehended previously by law enforcement in multiple states for several offenses.
The bill was initially introduced in the Senate on March 13 by Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), and Bill Cassidy (R-La.). That was after 32 House Republicans signed on to the Laken Riley Act H.R. 7511, which is the House companion act, originally introduced by Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.).
The Laken Riley Act passed the House on March 7 by a bipartisan vote of 251–170.
Mr. Budd addressed the previous proposal of the act, saying: “While some House Democrats found common ground on this, Senate Democrats blocked me from passing the Laken Riley Act in the Senate last week. So we’re going to try again.”
The Laken Riley Act would mandate that illegal immigrants who commit theft, burglary, larceny, or shoplifting be apprehended by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and placed in detention until their removal from the country.
Additionally, the act would guarantee states’ ability to file civil lawsuits against federal authorities who break the law or refuse to implement immigration laws.
“The murder of Laken Riley shows why we need border policies to protect all Americans,“ Dr. Cassidy said in a press release published by his office. ”We remain dedicated to securing our southern border and putting an end to these preventable tragedies.”
Mr. Budd also weighed in on the legislation when it was introduced, saying: “States should be able to protect their citizens from the Biden administration’s lawless, open border policies by seeking relief in federal court. That’s why I am joining Senator Britt to introduce the Senate version of the Laken Riley Act. We simply cannot tolerate any more senseless tragedies like this one. What happened to Laken Riley should never happen to any American citizen.”
During their press conference, several co-sponsors spoke about the legislation, with Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) saying the senators crafted the legislation “first and foremost to honor the life of Laken Riley and to mourn her loss.”
‘Summoned Spirits They Can’t Control’
“I was stricken this weekend as I heard Laken’s father speak. And he said this might not have happened if we had secure borders,” Mr. Marshall added. “Her alleged murderer was paroled by Joe Biden, one of 2 million people paroled by Joe Biden.”Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said he believes that the Biden administration has “clearly summoned spirits that they can’t control” with open border policies.
“I think many members of the Democratic Party believed that vetting people with the southern border is racist,” he said. “Most Americans don’t agree with that ... Most Americans see the southern border the way they look at their front door.
“Most Americans lock their front door at night. They don’t lock their front door at night because they hate absolutely everybody on the outside. Most Americans lock their front door at night because they love the people on the inside, and they just want to know who’s coming into and out of their home.”
Both of Texas’s senators spoke at the press conference, with Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) addressing an account of another victim of assault and murder allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant in his state. He called the deaths involving illegal immigrants “tragedies that families have had to deal with because President Biden does not believe in enforcing the law.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said to his fellow lawmakers that the Senate should take up the Laken Riley Act, but he also voiced frustration with senators on the other side of the aisle: “Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats have no interest in [passing the legislation] because the sad priority of this White House and of the Senate Democrats is they put illegal aliens and criminals consistently higher on the priority list than American citizens, and over and over again we see more and more Americans losing their lives as a result.”
