Democrats slammed after 159 vote against Republican bill allowing ICE to deport illegal migrants who steal
Democrats in the House of Representatives are becoming divided after many voted against the Laken Riley Act, a bill that would make it easier to deport illegal immigrant criminals.
The legislation, which passed 264 to 159 on Tuesday with bipartisan support, was named in honor of the late Laken Riley, 22, a student who was murdered by repeat criminal Jose Ibarra.
Ibarra, a Venezuelan citizen, had entered the US illegally and committed numerous crimes before finally killing the nursing student in February 2024.
Ibarra was arrested in New York for child endangerment and charged in Georgia with shoplifting, but was not detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) before Riley’s murder, despite being known to authorities.
He was later convicted in November of 10 charges, including murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault with intent to rape and more for Riley’s death.
The Laken Riley Act requires ICE to detain migrants charged with theft and other crimes. It also allows individual states to sue the federal government if they or its citizens are harmed by immigration-related actions.
On Tuesday, 159 Democrats voted against the Laken Riley Act.
‘What in the world? 159 Democrats voted against the Laken Riley Act. Why would you support rapists and murderers?’ Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said at X after the vote.
Laken Riley, 22, a nursing student from Georgia, was killed in February 2024 while on the run by Venezuelan national Jose Ibarra, 26. A bill that would allow ICE to deal more broadly with criminal illegal immigrants was introduced before the passed by the House for the second time. in honor of her Tuesday
Ibarra was indicted in November on 10 charges in connection with Riley’s murder
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer makes comments about the Laken Riley Act during a press conference on Tuesday. House Speaker Mike Johnson (C) said the House will vote Tuesday on the Laken Riley Act, a bill that would require the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants who commit certain non-violent crimes, such as theft and shoplifting.
Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., similarly posted on It’s a shame that 159 Democrats voted against it.’
Speaker Mike Johnson noted the importance of the bill in a news release after it passed.
“Laken Riley was brutally murdered by an illegal alien that President Biden and the Democrats allowed into this country with their open borders policies,” Johnson’s statement said. “It is difficult to believe that after countless horrific stories like Laeken’s, House Democrats would vote against the deportation of illegal aliens who commit violent crimes against American citizens.”
“But 159 did just that, showing that some Democrats have ignored the loud and clear message from voters in this election, who demanded secure borders, the deportation of violent illegal aliens, and laws that would protect the safety and security of the American people at the put first.’
The Laken Riley Act was previously passed in March 2024, with 251 Republicans and Democrats supporting the measure, but the bill was never put to a vote by Democratic leader Chuck Schumer in the last Congress.
A total of 170 Democrats voted against the bill at the time.
This time, 48 Democrats in the House of Representatives voted for the measure, compared to 37 who voted for it last March.
In March of last year, when the bill was first passed, Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene blasted Democratic Georgia lawmakers for not supporting the bill.
Rep. Jamie Raskin urged his Democratic colleagues to vote against the Laken Riley Act
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, along with many other Democrats, voted against the bill
“This is something that will be announced across the state,” she wrote on X. “What an absolute shame.
“Democrats aligned with Joe Biden and his open border policies have blood on their hands,” her message continued.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha expressed concern on social media: ‘How any lawmaker could oppose this speaks volumes about the current state of the Democratic Party.”
Democrats, meanwhile, say the Republican-led measure is a political football.
“Republicans in the House of Representatives are once again trying to use a terrible tragedy for political gain,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said in a statement to colleagues about the bill.
“This is the Republican playbook again and again: Make people afraid of immigrants, never propose anything that actually fixes an outdated and arcane immigration system,” Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said before the vote.
Last photo of tragic Laken Riley before she was murdered
In response to Jayapal’s speech, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., posted onThe radical left votes against Sheet Riley Act, where a Squad member compares Sheet ‘s brutal murder of children’s shoplifting chips. Unreal.’
But overall, a large group of Democrats supported the bill.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who is known to divide his party over immigration and the war in Israel, co-sponsored the bill in the Senate, becoming the first Democratic senator to voice support for the Republican Party’s bill.
Shortly after Fetterman’s announcement, Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., also told reporters he would support the bill in the Senate.
The bill would need 60 votes in the Senate to pass a filibuster and pass.