(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law Wednesday, the first signing of a bill in his second term in the White House.
The legislation, which targets migrants accused of crimes, comes amid a broader push for harsher immigration policies.
The law is named for Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was murdered on a morning run. Riley’s killer, Jose Ibarra, was in the country illegally and had previous run-ins with the law.
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That included an arrest for shoplifting in Georgia, but Ibarra was not detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement following that arrest.
Lawmakers who back the bill say it will make the country safer by requiring the removal of people who are in the U.S. without authorization accused of specific crimes. Crimes that would lead to detention and separation under the law include assaulting a police officer or any crime that ends with death or bodily injury as well as larceny, theft and shoplifting.
Critics say the law removes due process because it does not require a conviction. Those who opposed the legislation fear that false accusations could lead to detention or that innocent bystanders could be caught up in arrests and face deportation.
The legislation also makes it possible for states to sue the federal government if they believe it is not being enforced.
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Trump has championed the law and frequently mentioned Riley’s death during his campaign for the presidency.
Already, the Trump administration has been making good on promises to enact harsher policies around immigration. In his first days in office, he reinstated his “remain in Mexico” policy requiring asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico, ended humanitarian parole programs and deployed U.S. troops to the southern border.
Trump has also stepped up efforts to arrest and deport people in the country without authorization, increasing the number of arrests by ICE and reversing a rule that prohibited the agency from going into schools, hospitals and houses of worship to detain people.
