FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., turned the second Democrat to co-sponsor the Laken Riley Act, which can get a vote on the Senate flooring Friday after passing the Home on Tuesday.
The measure would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest and detain unlawful immigrants which have dedicated theft, housebreaking or shoplifting till they’re deported. Underneath the invoice, states would even have standing to take civil motion in opposition to members of the federal authorities who don’t implement immigration regulation.
“I will continue to fight for the safety of Arizonans by pushing for comprehensive immigration reform and increased border security.”
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Gallego is the second Democrat co-sponsor of the Laken Riley Act. (Getty Photographs)
The invoice was re-introduced within the 119th Congress by Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., within the Home and Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., within the Senate. It was named for the 22-year-old Augusta College nursing pupil who was discovered useless on the College of Georgia campus in February. Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old unlawful immigrant, was discovered responsible on 10 complete counts, together with felony homicide. He initially pleaded not responsible.
He was sentenced to life with out the potential of parole in November.
The Home handed the invoice, 264 to 159, on Tuesday, with 48 Democrats becoming a member of Republicans.
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Republicans plan to push by the Laken Riley Act now that they’ve an incoming trifecta in Washington. (Getty Photographs)
“I’d like to thank Senator Gallego for cosponsoring the bipartisan Laken Riley Act. This commonsense legislation would keep American families safe, and every single senator should support it,” Britt mentioned in a press release after Gallego joined the invoice.
The Alabama senator reintroduced the invoice within the Senate on Tuesday after first debuting it final yr. Senate Majority Chief John Thune, R-S.D., rapidly teed the measure up for a flooring vote on Friday.
Britt’s invoice has the total backing of each Republican within the Senate and is now co-sponsored by Democrat Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Gallego.
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Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the invoice’s first Democrat co-sponsor. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Name by way of Getty Photographs/File)
Gallego notably voted in favor of the invoice within the Home final yr, one of some dozen Democrats to take action.
The Arizona Democrat received the swing state’s Senate race in November, taking up the seat vacated by former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., who didn’t run for re-election. Gallego defeated Trump ally Kari Lake within the election, regardless of President-elect Donald Trump carrying the battleground state.
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Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., is up for re-election in 2026. (REUTERS/Mike Segar/File)
Republicans will in the end have a 53-seat majority within the Senate. Nonetheless, as a result of Sen.-elect Jim Justice of West Virginia delayed his swearing-in, the convention solely has a 52-seat majority.
To beat the legislative filibuster, the invoice wants 60 votes. The measure’s destiny is thus anticipated to return right down to the votes of a handful of Democrats.
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Particularly, the vote will put a highlight on the Georgia Senate delegation, as Riley was a constituent of theirs. All eyes will probably be on Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., who has his personal re-election battle in 2026 in yet one more Trump-won state.