What the Laken Riley Act Does Against Illegal and Legal Immigration

Introduction

Welcome to the Institute for Sound Public Policy Podcast, where we cover immigration and job policy that centers American workers first in ten minutes or less. My name is Nick, and today we’re diving into what the Laken Riley Act means for illegal and legal immigration.

Story

On Wednesday, January 29, President Trump signed his first piece of legislation, the Laken Riley Act.
On February 24, 2024, Laken Riley, a nursing student at the University of Georgia, went for a morning run near campus when an illegal Venezuelan alien, Jose Antonio Ibarra, bashed her skull in with a rock and killed her.
Prosecutors charged him on ten counts, including felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, kidnapping, tampering with evidence, hindering an emergency telephone call, and being a peeping Tom.
He was one of the millions of illegals let in by the Biden administration, entering the country on September 8th, 2022.
Additionally, he already had a run-in with the law, having been charged and arrested with intent to injure a child and a motor vehicle license violation in New York City a year after arriving but was released by the New York Police Department.
On November 24th, a Georgia judge found him guilty on all counts and sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
This preventable tragedy, due to relaxed immigration and law enforcement policies, prompted Georgia Republican Representative Mike Collins to act.
He introduced the Laken Riley Act, which passed both chambers of Congress in early January with bipartisan support.

Policy Implications

The new law seeks to prevent illegal alien criminals from being repeat offenders by catching them the first time.
An illegal alien, like Jose Ibarra, who is caught committing “burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, or assault of a law enforcement officer, or any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person” will be held up in jail and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, for detention.
ICE estimates that 800,000 foreigners who have committed these crimes would require detention.
However, the law does not just apply to illegal immigrants but to noncitizens who commit crimes, including those on work and student visas and lawful permanent residents.
Green card and work visa holders who commit crimes of moral turpitude, which are defined as drug crimes, espionage, treason, or an aggravated felony that includes rape, murder, fraud, and firearm violations, are also subject to custodianship by ICE and deportation upon conviction.
If, for example, an H-1B work visa worker from India is found guilty of a felony and is given deportation orders, but India refuses to take their citizen back, and the federal government does not issue a visa ban, then a state attorney general can sue the federal government in court and have a judge force a visa ban on India until they receive their citizen.
This is just one of five justifications; state attorneys general now can hold the federal government accountable in actually enforcing immigration law.
They can also sue over whether the federal government failed to detain an illegal immigrant, failed to properly inspect an immigrant or visa admission, or failed to follow parole on a case-by-case basis, like the Biden administration did, and more generally, whether the federal government failed to fully enforce immigration law.
All it would take to sue in court is to show $100 in damages from the lack of federal immigration law enforcement.
Ultimately, the Laken Riley Act, which President Trump signed, represents a bold step toward ensuring accountability in immigration enforcement by involving state attorneys generals and protecting public safety both from illegal and legal U.S. entrants.

Discussion on X
https://x.com/USTechWorkers/status/1885090581711409516

Sources