Trump notches immigration win with bill named after jogger killed by migrant

The bill named after Georgia nursing student Laken Riley (left) has been passed by Congress and is going to President Donald Trump’s (right) desk to sign (Picture: AP)

President Donald Trump has landed his first major immigration win, with a bill requiring illegal migrants accused of violent crimes to be detained heading to his desk.

The House passed the Laken Riley Act on Wednesday as 46 Democrats sided with Republicans to give it final approval with a 263-156 vote. The Senate passed the bill earlier this week.

It was named after Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was 22 when she murdered by an illegal migrant, Jose Ibarra, from Venezuela last year. Riley was going for a run when she was killed and Ibarra was convicted and given a life sentence without parole.

The act calls for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants accused of ‘burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting’.

Laken Riley was found dead on the University of Georgia campus near the Intramural Fields on February 22, 2024 (Picture: Facebook/@laken.riley)

Senator Katie Britt stated that it is ‘perhaps the most significant immigration enforcement bill’ that Congress has passed in almost 30 years.

‘For decades, it has been almost impossible for our government to agree on solutions for the problems at our border and within our country,’ the Republican leader stated.

She told The Independent: ‘President Trump has been diligently working to put a vision in front of the American people, and it’s one that they overwhelmingly agree with, and securing the border has been at the center of that.’

Jose Ibarra was convicted and given a life sentence without parole in the killing of Laken Riley (Picture: AP)

Trump on the campaign trail in March had called migrants ‘animals’ after Riley’s killing and said the US would face a ‘bloodbath’ if he did not win the presidential election.

The 47th president upon returning to the White House on Monday swiftly signed executive orders aligning with his campaign promise to crack down on illegal immigration, including declaring a national emergency at the US’s southern border and initiating the end of birthright citizenship.

Though Trump is set sign the Laken Riley Act into law, it faces hurdles in implementation as federal authorities have said there are not sufficient resources to enforce it.

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