Barrasso, Lummis, other GOP senators introduce Laken Riley Act

CHEYENNE (WNE) — U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, both R-Wyo., on Wednesday joined U.S. Senators Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Ted Budd, R-N.C., in introducing the Laken Riley Act.

This bill would require the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to arrest illegal immigrants who commit theft, burglary, larceny, or shoplifting offenses and would mandate they are detained until they are removed from the United States.

“This legislation would ensure states have standing to bring civil actions against federal officials who refuse to enforce immigration law or who violate the law,” according to a Wyoming Senate delegation news release.

Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University, was abducted and killed Feb. 22 while jogging at the University of Georgia campus in Athens, Georgia. A 26-year-old Venezuelan who had entered the U.S. illegally is charged in her death.

“Joe Biden’s border crisis has allowed nine million illegal immigrants to break our laws and pour across our southern border,” Barrasso said in the release. “The murder of innocent Americans, like Laken Riley, is a direct result of the Democrats’ lawless and dangerous open border policies. “

The Laken Riley Act passed the House last week in a bipartisan vote of 251-170.

This story was published on March 14, 2024.