US House sends bill named after murdered Georgia nursing student to Trump

Tia Mitchell, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Jan 22, 2025

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. House has approved legislation named for a murdered Georgia nursing student, sending the measure to President Donald Trump, who is expected to make it the first bill he signs into law since reclaiming the White House.

The Laken Riley Act would give federal immigration agencies broad authority to detain undocumented immigrants accused of a crime. The House on Wednesday passed the bill 263-156, including all the Republicans in Georgia’s delegation and two of five Democrats.

Among them was Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, who joined Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, in supporting the bill. Bishops vote represented a flip from the last time the bill was on the House floor. He could not immediately be reached for comment

U.S. Rep. Austin Scott, R-Tifton, said during debate that the measure is a commonsense response to concerns about illegal immigration.

“The Laken Riley Act will ensure criminals who illegally cross our borders and endanger our communities are detained and deported while also giving states the ability to bring civil action against any federal official in the future should they refuse to enforce our country’s immigration laws and put American citizens at risk by refusing to do so,” he said.

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, the primary sponsor of the bill in the House, said the its passage will allow local law enforcement agencies to deport undocumented immigrants who pose a safety threat.

“These criminals that come across and inflict violence on American families, they just get more and more emboldened and they create larger and more heinous crimes,” said Collins, R-Jackson, whose district includes the University of Georgia where Riley was killed.

The Senate signed off on the bill Monday with the help of 12 Democrats, including Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. The final tally in that chamber was 64-35.

The original language, which the House previously approved, allowed law enforcement agencies to detain and begin deportation procedures for migrants accused of nonviolent crimes like burglary and theft.

A Senate amendment added assault on law enforcement officers to the list of eligible offenses, and a second amendment approved Monday broadened the measure further to include “any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person.”

The majority of Democrats in both the House and Senate voted against the measure, with several raising concerns about due process since the bill allows for deportation of undocumented immigrants accused of a crime, not a guilty conviction.

Democrats also raised concerns that there is no exemption for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals participants, or Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who crossed the border as children and have spent nearly their entire lives in America.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York said the tragedy of Riley’s death is being used to erode civil rights, and she is concerned about the law’s future consequences.

“When a Dreamer is disappeared from your classroom, when the president of the United States destroys what is left of the Constitution as he has announced in his attack on birthright citizenship, they will all say we didn’t know this was coming,” she said. “And I want the American people to know that they did. This vote represents it

.HOW GEORGIA’S DELEGATION VOTED ON S. 5, the Laken Riley Act

“Yes”

U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Atlanta

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Atlanta

U.S. Rep. Rick Allen, R-Augusta

U.S, Rep, Sanford Bishop, D-Albany

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-St. Simons Island

U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Athens

U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome

U.S. Rep. Brian Jack, R-Peachtree City

U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville