(NewsNation) — The House of Representatives passed the final version of the Laken Riley Act on Wednesday, a piece of legislation that ties into President Donald Trump’s larger agenda on immigration.
The bill previously passed the House but the Senate made changes, so it had to go back to the House for a vote, which it passed.
The chamber cleared the bill in a 263-156 vote. Passage in the House came two days after the Senate approved the measure in a bipartisan 64-35 vote.
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Introduced following the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, the bill says if someone who is in the country illegally is arrested for, charged with or found guilty of a crime that’s not a major felony but is larceny, theft, shoplifting or similar, Immigration and Customs Enforcement would be required to detain that individual.
Jose Ibarra, who was found guilty of murdering Riley, had been accused of shoplifting but was not detained by ICE.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., spoke on the bill’s importance Wednesday morning along with Trump’s larger plan for immigration.
“What he’s doing is kickstarting what will ultimately be our legislative agenda and you’re going to begin to see that. The Laken Riley Act is a perfect example,” Johnson said. “The president will have that on his desk for signature and that’s the first of many bills that will be addressing all these great concerns.”
Several Democrats have raised concerns about the bill, saying it eliminates due process for people who should get certain rights, including those who may be part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., has made immigration and protections for DACA recipients one of her priorities in Congress.
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“What they’re voting for is saying, it doesn’t matter if someone falsely accuses a 12-year-old of stealing a Snickers or if a 12-year-old stole the Snickers, or if someone decided that they wanted to falsely accuse you and you get arrested,” she said. “If you’ve been accused, you are guilty.”
The bill has garnered controversy in areas where states or cities have sanctuary policies, with laws that say if state or local police arrest someone, they cannot be compelled to hand them over to federal authorities.
This bill would override those laws, forcing states to hand people over to ICE. If states feel the federal government is not complying, it also allows the state’s attorney general to sue cabinet members, which would be unprecedented.
Congress will now send the bill to Trump’s desk making it the first piece of legislation he signs in his second term.
