Laken Riley Act Passes House But Too Late to Save Innocent Nursing Student
By Joe Guzzardi
In a refreshing change from his indifference to immigration enforcemen, House Speaker Mike Johnson, with all Republicans and 48 Democrats voting “Yea,” passed the “Laken Riley Act” (LRA) 264-159, Jan. 7. Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins had introduced the companion bill to the Senate legislation of the same name which will be voted on later in January. Johnson skeptics vividly remember that the speaker vowed not to send Ukraine one more penny unless HR-2, the strongest enforcement legislation ever written, was included in the next bill. Ukraine got its billions; HR-2 died a quiet death. Johnson, however, made good on his most recent promise to deliver LRA to citizens who want safe neighborhoods, free of violent criminal aliens.
Both the House and the Senate bills will authorize Immigration and Customs Enforcement to issue detainers and take custody of illegal immigrants who commit burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting offenses. Jose Ibarra, a previously deported Venezuelan illegal alien was originally released from the El Paso port of entry into the interior. After he arrived in New York, NYPD charged Ibarra with “acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation.” Once in Athens, Ga. Ibarra with his brother Diego were cited for shoplifting at a Walmart before he later killed nursing student Riley. Ibarra was convicted of three counts of felony murder and counts of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape and the sexual deviancy “peeping Tom” crime. To state the obvious, had Ibarra been deported back to Venezuela which federal immigration law requires, Riley would not have been murdered and today she might be a practicing registered nurse.
Kudos to the 48 common sense Democrats that voted for safety and security in the communities they represent. But in his post-vote press release, Johnson blasted the 159 Democrats who voted against the bill. Johnson wrote that it “is hard to believe after countless horrific stories like Laken’s, ANY House Democrats would vote against deporting illegal aliens who commit violent crimes against American citizens.” Earlier, Johnson said he viewed the bill as a key test of Democrats’ policy priorities after a resounding number of voters identified the border crisis as their top concern during the run-up to the 2024 election. Johnson may have been disappointed with the Democrats but certainly could not have been surprised. The Democrats are indifferent to ICE’s 2024 Fiscal Year Report which showed that 81,312 illegal aliens had criminal histories with a combined total of 516,050 charges and/or convictions which include the following serious and violent offenses:
- 57,081 assaults.
- 18,579 sexual assaults and sex offenses.
- 12,895 weapons offenses.
- 11,822 burglaries.
- 5,462 robberies.
- 2,894 homicides.
- 2,766 kidnappings.
When LRA gets to the Senate, its prospects look good. South Dakota Republican John Thune, the new Majority Leader, supports immigration enforcement. The last Republican to precede Thune as Majority Leader was Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell, an immigration enthusiast on par with many of the most supportive open borders Democrats. Thune, on the other hand, earned an A+ grade on strengthening border and interior enforcement, as well as Imposing more rigid standards for refugee resettlement and asylum petition approvals.
On X, Thune posted, “As the 119th Congress begins, the U.S. Senate will work to ensure President Trump has his team in place to secure our border, protect our homeland, and provide for our nation’s defense.” Thune added that Riley’s horrific murder at Ibarra’s hands “should have never happened. There is an urgent need to take action regarding the border crisis to protect the American people…. which is why I chose this as the first bill the Senate will vote on this Congress.” In March 2024, the House with 37 Democrats voting in favor passed the Laken Riley Act 251-170. But the Senate Democratic Whip, Illinois’ Dick Durbin, blocked the bill. Protecting Americans is not a partisan issue; Durbin’s action is incomprehensible.
Thune is entering his fourth term in the Upper Chamber where he holds the caucus’ most powerful position and has a majority; his job is to convert his words into actions by getting LRA passed. No rush, though. If LRA gets to the president’s desk before the new administration is sworn in, Biden will veto it. Years have passed since Congress has passed an immigration bill that improves Americans’ lives. LRA is a welcome step in the right direction to protect the nation but much more must be done starting with closing the borders, clearly the most effective way to keep criminals out.
Joe Guzzardi is an Institute for Sound Public Policy analyst. Contact him at jguzzardi@ifspp.org
Ed note: Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa5), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa4) and Summer Lee (D-Pa12) again voted against it.
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