BUZZBill needs a final vote in the House before it goes to President Trump
The Senate advanced legislation to crack down on illegal immigration in honor of a murdered Georgia nursing student.
The Laken Riley Act passed the Senate on Monday by a vote of 64 to 35. The bill “require[s] the Secretary of Homeland Security to take into custody aliens who have been charged in the United States with theft, and for other purposes.”
Riley (pictured) was an Augusta University nursing student who died at the hands of illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra while on a run at the University of Georgia in Feb. 2024. He kidnapped her and disfigured her skull, according to arrest warrants.
Ibarra illegally entered the country in 2022, as part of the millions of people allowed to flood the country since 2021, as The College Fix previously reported. President Joe Biden apologized for referring to Ibarra as an “illegal,” facing backlash from his party.
A secure border + pro-immigration are fully compatible.
I proudly voted AYE on final passage of the Laken Riley Act.
And I am looking for legislative solutions to protect our Dreamers.
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) January 20, 2025
A county judge sentenced Ibarra to two life sentences plus 27 years for his crimes.
Just a handful of Democrats voted in support of the bill, with 35 opposing the automatic deportation law. Georgia Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both Democrats, voted in support of the bill.
The bill returns to the U.S. House for a final vote; a version of the legislation passed last month, according to NBC News.
“It sends a message that we recognize the concerns that Americans have had out there with what has happened at the southern border,” South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds told NBC News. “And this is a message that we’re going to clean up our own laws inside and we’re going to make America safer.”
President Donald Trump is expected to sign the final bill.
Sen. Kate Britt sponsored the bill and gave a speech prior to its passage on Monday.
Today, our nation returns to common sense. It’s time for the Senate to pass the Laken Riley Act tonight. pic.twitter.com/mKFQmCUqCD
— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) January 20, 2025
“Now is the time to return to common sense, now is the time to return to law and order,” the Alabama Republican said during her speech.
“The lawlessness ends today,” Sen. Britt said during her speech.
MORE: Professor writes anti-Trump inaugural anthem
IMAGE: Laken Riley/Facebook