H.R. 7511, the Laken Riley Act, would allow the detention of undocumented immigrants for particular offenses until their deportation. The three State Attorneys General, supported by 23 other State Attorneys General, have sent a letter to Senate leadership urging its ratification.
The letter states that the unprecedented border crisis is the result of President Biden’s defiance of practical measures and contempt for the rule of law. They say the role of the attorneys general is to protect states and uphold the rule of law. H.R. 7511 is a potent weapon in the battle against illegal immigration and for the protection of Americans.
The 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley was murdered by an illegal migrant in March on the University of Georgia campus. The measure, approved by a vote of 251 to 170, is named after her. Riley’s body was left in the woods, with her skull disfigured.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not detain the Venezuelan national, Jose Antonio Ibarra, despite his arrest in New York before the crime.
According to Homeland Security documentation, Ibarra and his wife entered the US illegally via El Paso, Texas, in September 2022. His wife said they were put on a bus and brought to New York after their detention and subsequent release. It was at that time, according to an immigration attorney, that the United States extended special protective status to illegal migrants from Venezuela.
In October 2023, Ibarra and his brother Diego were penalized in Georgia for shoplifting. Before his felony murder charges, Ibarra had an arrest out of New York for endangerment of a child.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), pleaded with the Senate to swiftly consider the measure to secure justice for Laken and provide ICE with more resources to capture and deport unlawful illegal immigrants before their commission of more heinous offenses.
The law would enable states to sue the federal government if an immigration-related action hurts their citizens, and it would mandate that ICE hold illegal immigrants accused of theft or burglary.
Two Republicans from the Senate submitted the bill’s Senate version alongside H.R. 7511.
