U.S. Senate Moves Ahead With Immigration Bill Expanding Detention for Theft, Shoplifting

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Monday voted to proceed with consideration of a bill that would impose new mandatory immigration detention requirements for immigrants charged with property crimes and give broad legal standing to state attorneys general.

In an 82-10 vote, a majority of Senate Democrats, 32, and one independent, joined Republicans.

Nine Democrats voted against the bill, S. 5, including Sens. Tina Smith of Minnesota, Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Andy Kim and Cory Booker of New Jersey, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders also opposed it.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the Senate floor that the bill, named after 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, is “a common sense measure that should be an unquestioned yes for every senator.”

Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old migrant from Venezuela, was charged and convicted of Riley’s murder last month. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Ibarra allegedly entered the country illegally in 2022 and was previously arrested in Georgia on a shoplifting charge and was later released.

“It would be incredibly disappointing if Democrats moved to the bill simply to attempt to load it down with poison pills or unrelated measures,” Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor that Democrats are “gonna ask our Republican colleagues to allow for debate and votes on amendments. I hope my Republican colleagues will allow for it.”

Republicans have crafted the bill to require the U.S. Department of Homeland Security use mandatory detention for an immigrant charged or arrested with local theft, burglary or shoplifting, which, among other things, means they are not allowed to be released on bond.

The bill, which aims to include noncitizens in the country without proper authorization, could also include immigrants with a discretionary legal status such as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA.

Additionally, the bill gives broad legal standing for state attorneys general to challenge federal immigration law, State Department policy on issuing visas and bond decisions from immigration judges.

Last week, 32 Senate Democrats and one independent voted with Republicans on a procedural motion to advance the bill. It’s the same bill that the House passed last year but Schumer never brought the bill to the floor for a vote when Democrats controlled the upper chamber.

The House passed its bill last week, this time gaining more Democratic support, 48 compared to 37 the first time, following an election in which border security was a main theme for President-elect Donald Trump.

Last updated 7:25 p.m., Jan. 13, 2025

by Ariana Figueroa, Virginia Mercury

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