UPDATE:
The U.S. Senate voted a whopping 84-9 in favor of advancing The Laken Riley Act, which will require the detention of illegal immigrants who commit theft related crimes.
The nine who voted against it, all Democrats, are as follows: Corey Booker Mazie Hirono Andy Kim Elizabeth Warren Ed Markey Jeff Merkley Bernie Sanders Tina Smith Brian Schatz.
BREAKING: 9 Democrats just voted against advancing the Laken Riley Act which would require law enforcement to detain illegals who commit theft-related crimes.
Corey Booker
Mazie Hirono
Andy Kim
Elizabeth Warren
Ed Markey
Jeff Merkley
Bernie Sanders
Tina Smith
Brian SchatzWhy… pic.twitter.com/HDWHMAyFIG
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 9, 2025
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President-elect Donald Trump is gearing up to take office with a major legislative achievement already under his belt. The House recently passed the Laken Riley Act, which aims to lower the criminal threshold for individuals living in the U.S. illegally who are charged with certain nonviolent crimes like theft and burglary.
The vote saw a mix of support, with 48 Democrats joining Republicans to push the measure forward to the Senate. Majority Leader John Thune is expected to bring it up for consideration, while Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has indicated that Dems might engage if concessions are made. This led nine more Democrat senators to express support for the act, which is actually pretty shocking if you ask me.
BREAKING: The Republican-controlled House passed the Laken Riley Act (264-159).
The bill mandates that illegal aliens — charged with theft-related crimes — must be detained.
159 democrats voted AGAINST the Laken Riley Act.
Let this be a reminder that Laken Riley was a Georgia… pic.twitter.com/UVwP7PqVVg
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) January 7, 2025
Senator John Fetterman is one that stepped forward in support, announcing his backing of the bill on Fox News. Following him were others like Reps Mark Kelly, Jacky Rosen, Tammy Duckworth, and Jon Ossoff.
Democrat Senators Supporting the Laken Riley Act
▪️Fetterman (D-PA)
▪️Gallego (D-AZ)
▪️Kelly (D-AZ)
▪️Peters (D-MI)
▪️Rosen (D-NV)
▪️Slotkin (D-MI)It appears we’re on the way to filibuster-proof support in the Senate.
(Notice anything about these senators?)
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) January 8, 2025
Current laws allow two petty nonviolent offenses as grounds for apprehension and deportation of illegal immigrants. The Laken Riley Act proposes expanding this scope to include a single nonviolent offense like burglary or shoplifting. However, enforcing this can be tricky in cities and states that have sanctuary policies preventing local police from holding suspects based solely on immigration status.
Fetterman emphasized this point during a Fox News appearance by questioning why anyone would defend criminals remaining in America: “We have hundreds of thousands here illegally who’ve been convicted of crimes—why defend them?”
NEW: John Fetterman says if Democrats can’t get 7 votes in the Senate to pass the Laken Riley Act, then “that’s the reason why we lost."
“If you're here illegally and you're committing crimes, I don't know why anybody thinks that it's controversial, that they all need to go." pic.twitter.com/e0tDEK72uO
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) January 8, 2025
He also acknowledged illegal immigration’s role as a defining issue heading into future elections: “If we can’t get seven votes out of 47 [Democrats], that’s part of why we lost.”