(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump has signed the Laken Riley Act into law, authorizing law enforcement to detain illegal immigrants who are arrested for committing theft, assaulting law enforcement, or causing serious injury or death to another person.
The bipartisan legislation is the first major bill the 47th president has signed into law.
“President Trump just signed the Laken Riley act into law. Laken was senselessly murdered because of the previous Administration’s refusal to enforce our laws,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz, said on X. “America is safer because of President Trump and his Administration.”
The act is named after University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was murdered in February 2024 by Venezuelan national Jose Antonio Ibarra, who had a prior record of shoplifting in the U.S. but was released from law enforcement custody before committing the murder.
Some Democrats opposed the bill because they claimed it violates due process laws by applying mandatory detention statutes on people who are only charged with, and not convicted of, committing crimes.
They also objected to the lack of exceptions for minors, as well as the anticipated strain on Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detention facilities.
U.S. immigration law already requires that migrants illegally entering the U.S. be detained and usually deported, even if they are not charged with additional crimes. ICE has not always been able to enforce the law in recent years due to certain immigration parole and sanctuary policies of the Biden administration, all of which Trump rescinded in executive orders he issued on his first day in office Monday.
ICE has said it will need millions more in funding and tens of thousands more detention beds in order to implement the legislation, according to a December 2024 memo obtained by Politico.
