US House passes Laken Riley Act, sending it to Trump's desk for his first legislative victory

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the controversial Laken Riley Bill sending it to the table of US President Donald Trump. The bill attracted attention since it requires the detention of undocumented immigrants who are charged with theft-related crimes. Many are now describing the measure as the first legislative victory for the new Trump administration.

According to The Guardian, the House voted 263 to 158 in favour of the bill. 46 Democrats joined hands with the Republicans to give final passage to the legislation. It is pertinent to note that the Laken Riley Act was named after a 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia who was killed last year by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela.

The House vote on the law came two days after the US Senate passed the legislation in a vote of 64 to 35 in favour of the bill. A dozen of Democrats supported the legislation in the upper chamber of the House.

What the bill is about?

Under the new law, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would be allowed to detain undocumented immigrants charged with crimes such as “burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting”. Not only this, it would also allow state attorney generals to sue the federal government if they believe their states were harmed by the centre’s failure to enforce stringent immigration laws.

While several Democrats supported the legislation, progressives within the party expressed outrage over the lawmakers’ perceived acquiescence to Trump’s anti-immigration agenda. “Spineless. That’s the only word for the 10 Senate Democrats who handed Maga Republicans a gift they didn’t deserve,” Sarah Dohl, chief campaigns officer of the progressive group Indivisible, said last week.

“The Laken Riley Act is a racist, xenophobic attack on immigrants that shreds constitutional rights and hands power to extremists like [Texas attorney general] Ken Paxton to hijack federal immigration policy. It’s not just cruel – it’s a train wreck of chaos and bad faith. And yet, Senate Democrats caved,” she furthered.

Civil rights groups raise alarm

Meanwhile, immigrant rights and civil rights groups also raised concerns over how the legislation could undermine the federal authorities. They also warned that the Act would empower Trump to carry out his draconian mass deportation program. Some groups also warned that the Laken Riley bill ignores the core principle of the justice system which believes that someone charged with a crime has not been convicted and is entitled to due process.

“This is an extreme and reactive bill that will authorize the largest expansion of mandatory detention we have seen in decades, sweeping in children, Dreamers, parents of US-citizen children and other longtime members of their communities who even Ice thinks should not be detained,” Sarah Mehta, senior border policy counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said last week as the bill made its way through Congress.

“This legislation offers no solutions to improve our immigration system, and we thank the senators who stood up for immigrant communities and due process and voted against this harmful, expensive bill – a bill that will not make us safer," she added. Trump is now expected to swiftly sign the bill the moment it reaches its desk. This will be the first law passed by the second Trump administration. Earlier this week, Trump has already used his executive authority to declare a national emergency at the US-Mexico border and call for an end to birthright citizenship, a right enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

With inputs from agencies.