The House on Tuesday took the first steps toward President-elect Donald Trump’s promised immigration crackdown, passing a bill that would press Homeland Security to detain and deport illegal immigrants arrested for even minor theft crimes such as shoplifting.

Named the Laken Riley Act, after a Georgia nursing student slain by an illegal immigrant last year, the bill easily cleared the House on a 264-159 vote with four dozen Democrats joining the GOP in favor.

Senate Republicans are also moving toward a vote in their chamber as the new GOP-led Congress moves quickly to carry out a key Trump campaign promise.

“We need to get these people off the streets. These criminals are getting bolder and bolder while our communities become more and more unsafe,” said Rep. Mike Collins, Georgia Republican. “Our lax policies, they gave her murderer the courage to kill Laken Riley.”

Mr. Collins represents the region where Riley was slain last February.

Her killing helped elevate immigration into a political crisis for President Biden, who oversaw the largest illegal immigrant surge in U.S. history.

Among the arrivals was Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan who was caught and released at the border in 2022 under a Biden “parole” program.

He went on to tally several arrests in New York City and Georgia but was never deemed a priority for detention and deportation under Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s directives.

Homeland Security actually issued Ibarra a work permit in December 2023, after several of the arrests and just two months before he murdered Riley last February.

Ibarra was convicted late last year and has been sentenced to life in prison.

The Lake Riley Act would push U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest and detain illegal immigrants who commit shoplifting, burglary, larceny or theft offenses.

It would also create an avenue for states to bring a civil case in court against federal officials who refuse to enforce immigration law. That would reverse a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that said Texas didn’t have standing to sue to stop Mr. Mayorkas’s more relaxed enforcement priorities, even if they did conflict with the law.

Democrats who opposed the legislation said it trampled on illegal immigrants’ rights by pushing for deportation after a theft or shoplifting arrest, rather than waiting for a conviction.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, Maryland Democrat, envisioned a situation where a young adult illegal immigrant was part of a group where a friend shoplifted but the whole group was arrested.

“The consequences would be devastating under this legislation — mandatory detention and deportation from this country just for having been arrested, even if never charged,” he said.

Mr. Raskin also complained about reversing the Supreme Court and giving states the right to sue federal officials to step up immigration enforcement.

Republicans were pushing the bill even as they doubted it would be needed during the incoming Trump administration.

But they said they wanted to head off a repeat of Biden-style policies by a future Democratic president.

A version of the Laken Riley Act was approved in the GOP-led House last year in a 251-170 vote, with 37 Democrats backing it.

Tuesday’s vote improved that tally, with 48 Democrats in support — underscoring a small but significant shift in the politics of illegal immigration over the last year.

The Senate, which was under Democratic control last year, did not vote on the bill.

But with the GOP now leading the upper chamber as well as the House, the bill is likely to see some action. Newly minted Majority Leader John Thune has triggered parliamentary maneuvers to have the bill skip the committee process and come straight to the floor.

Still, it will likely have to clear a filibuster to win passage, and that means the support of at least eight members of the Democratic Caucus.

It already has one. Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, is co-sponsoring the Senate bill, along with nearly every Senate Republican.

The Senate version is being led by Sens. Katie Britt, Alabama Republican, and Ted Budd, North Carolina Republican.

“The American people did not just deliver a mandate on November 5, they delivered a verdict. They made it clear they want to remove criminal illegal aliens and protect American families. We will soon know whether Democrats hear, respect, and obey that verdict,” Ms. Britt said.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.