Congress passed the first bill of the new Trump era on Wednesday, delivering on the president’s immigration promises with legislation to push for detention and deportation of criminal migrants — including those with relatively low-level offenses such as shoplifting.
The House voted 263-156 to approve the Laken Riley Act. The Senate passed the bill earlier this week on a similar bipartisan vote, which means the legislation now heads to President Trump’s desk for his expected signature.
Republicans said it was the first in what they expect to be a stream of immigration crackdown bills.
“This law and the others that will follow it will ensure that no future president will be able to unleash on our country what Joe Biden and his Democratic supporters did,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, California Republican.
The bill is named after Riley, a nursing student in Georgia who was slain last year by an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Jose Ibarra was caught and released under the Biden administration’s lenient border policies and quickly amassed a criminal record here, all while remaining free in the community.
The new bill would push Homeland Security to detail — and try to deport — illegal immigrants convicted or charged with theft, burglary and shoplifting, Ibarra was free despite a shoplifting charge.
During debate in Congress, lawmakers expanded the bill to push detention of illegal immigrants who assault law enforcement officers or who kill or maim someone.
That provision was spurred by an incident in which a drunk-driving illegal immigrant killed a young woman and then made bail. Homeland Security failed to respond and detain him, allowing him to jump bail and escape the country.
The bill also would allow state attorneys general to sue if they believe the federal government is not enforcing immigration law properly.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, Florida Democrat, said the bill was “shameful.”
“On its face, this is an evil bill bent to empower a violent man who is not interested in solving the problems of working people, but interested in power,” Mr. Frost said.
His remarks drew a rebuke from the presiding officer for insulting the president, and a correction from Mr. McClintock, who said illegal immigrants are already supposed to be detained under the law until their cases are heard. He said the point of the bill was to identify those who “really” needed to be kept off the streets.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, Maryland Democrat, said the debate was a distraction.
“All this sound and fury on day one and week one, but nothing to bring down grocery prices,” he said.
He said Congress should spend its time on legalizing illegal immigrants and banning some types of firearms.
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, New York Democrat, complained the bill could end up snaring a teenage illegal immigrant caught “stealing a candy bar.”
A version of the Laken Riley Act cleared the House last year but didn’t see action in the Democrat-led Senate.
This year, with Congress under total GOP control, the bill has drawn significant bipartisan support.
Mr. McClintock said it wasn’t clear whether those Democrats were responding to the reality of migrant crime or the demands of their voters, but he said they were welcome either way.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.