President Donald Trump signed his new administration’s first piece of legislation into law on Wednesday, Jan. 29. The law is tied to the signature issue of Trump’s presidential campaign, a promised crackdown on illegal immigration into the United States.
Trump authorized the Laken Riley Act with the stroke of a pen and with Riley’s parents present at the ceremony.
What did Laken Riley’s family say?
Allyson Phillips, the mother of Laken Riley, spoke before Trump signed the legislation.
“Our family will forever be grateful for the prayers of people across our nation and for helping get this legislation into law,” Phillips said. “We also want to thank President Trump for the promises he made to us. He said he would secure our borders and that he would never forget about Laken, and he hasn’t. He’s a man of his word, and we trust that he will fight for the American people.”
What does the law do?
The new law allows federal law enforcement to detain and potentially deport immigrants living in the United States illegally who are accused of theft or violent crimes without the need for a conviction.
The legislation passed with mostly Republican and some Democratic support.
The Laken Riley Act requires federal authorities to detain any immigrant living in the country illegally who is arrested or charged with a crime such as theft or violent offenses.
Under the legislation, state attorneys general can also sue the federal government for harm linked to federal immigration decisions.
Who was Laken Riley?
The law is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at the University of Georgia. She was murdered by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan immigrant living in the U.S. illegally. He was found guilty of Riley’s murder in November and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Ibarra was arrested and released three times before the murder. He was accused of crimes ranging from entering the country illegally to child endangerment and shoplifting.
What are critics of the legislation saying?
Some Democrats have questioned whether the law is constitutional, and immigrant rights advocates warn it will lead to mass detentions.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued the act would allow authorities to lock up people based on pure suspicion that they committed a crime, even many years after it occurred.
The civil rights group said it expects the law to be challenged in the courts.
What’s the bigger picture?
Trump signed the legislation into law after a series of executive orders last week aimed at securing the U.S. southern border.
Trump has promised to deport millions of immigrants living in the country illegally and has threatened to prosecute local law enforcement officials who do not enforce his administration’s federal immigration policies.
