The Senate will vote on Laken Riley’s legislation after the inauguration of Donald Trump

(AP) – The Senate is nearing a final vote on legislation that would give states the power to challenge federal immigration policies and require federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft and violent crimes, setting a new tone on immigration as Donald Trump enters Congress. The White House.

Senate Republicans, newly in the majority, passed the Laken Riley Act, named after student of Georgia who was killed last year by a Venezuelan who was in the United States illegally, is a top priority, potentially making it the first bill Trump signs as president.

On Friday, it cleared a key procedural hurdle 61-35, with 10 Democrats voting with Republicans to move it to a final vote. The Senate is set to vote on final approval on Monday after Trump’s inauguration, but the House will also need to consider changes to the bill.

Democrats, who last year allowed a similar law to remain in place, initially supported opening debate on the bill, signaling a renewed willingness to consider cracking down on illegal immigration after their election defeat. However, the majority voted against bringing the bill to a final vote, as they were unable to make significant changes to the legislation.

“The American people are rightly concerned about the illegal immigration crisis in this country, and they made it clear in November that they want it addressed,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, who described the bill as “the first of many » on the topic.

In the first days of the new Congress, Republicans challenged Democrats to join them in efforts to limit illegal immigration and deport migrants involved in crimes. In a few cases they are. The majority of Democrats in the Senate voted for promotion Laken Riley’s Act last week as they traded amendments to the bill.

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In the House of Representatives, all Republicans and 48 Democrats voted to pass a similar version of the bill this month. And this week, 61 Democrats also voted in favor of a separate bill requiring the deportation and barring of entry into the US for foreign nationals convicted of physical or sexual assault.

The vote gave Republicans some early victories as they hold the trifecta of power in the House, Senate and White House, though the bills mostly change policies where the federal government already has discretion.

Once Trump takes office and tries to launch large-scale deportation operations, Republicans in Congress will face intense pressure to pay for his priorities while balancing their promises to curb the budget deficit and concerns about the economic as well as humanitarian consequences of mass deportations. .

Laken Riley’s law does not provide any new funding for immigration officials, but Democratic staff on the Senate Appropriations Committee estimated the bill would cost $83 billion over the next three years, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

Republicans rejected that figure. At the same time, they are debating how to push a major funding package through a process known as reconciliation that would allow the Trump administration to spend up to $100 billion on border and immigration enforcement.

Meanwhile, Democrats are looking for a way forward on their approach to immigration. The party is split between those who now prioritize curbing illegal immigration and those who say the party should also advocate for help for migrants already here or seeking relief from violence or persecution in their home countries.

“We Democrats want to see our broken immigration system fixed,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who supported negotiating the bill but voted against advancing it on Friday.

He noted that last year, Democrats worked with Republicans on a larger bill that would have limited the asylum process. The legislation was rejected by Republicans after Trump spoke out against it, but Schumer said he would still “be willing” to work with the GOP on border security and immigration.

“I think we have to prove that we are the only party that is serious about border security,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut.

He criticized Laken Riley’s law because it would require immigration authorities to prioritize detaining migrants accused or convicted of crimes such as shoplifting, but would potentially force authorities to release others convicted of more serious crimes. Murphy said it would simply “make the system more confusing and more chaotic.”

The Senate will vote on Monday to expand the bill to also target migrants who attack police officers or are accused of crimes that kill or cause serious injury.

The legislation, along with Riley’s name, became a rallying cry for Republicans last year as they focused on President Joe Biden’s handling of the border. Riley, a nursing student from Georgia, was killed in February, and Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan who entered the country illegally and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case, was convicted of her murder.

During the election campaign, Trump repeatedly raised the topic of crimes committed by migrants, but there no evidence that immigrants are more prone to violent crime. Several studies have shown that immigrants commit lower crime rates than the US-born. Groups that advocate restrictive immigration policies dispute or reject these findings.

Ultimately, immigration experts said the legislation’s most lasting impact could be a provision that gives state attorneys general the right to sue the federal government for harm caused by federal immigration policies.

It gives states new powers to set immigration policy, although they have already tried to resist presidential decisions under both the Trump and Biden administrations. Democrats unsuccessfully sought to remove the provision from the bill, arguing that it could open the door to major changes in federal policy.

“We have a really overburdened and overstretched immigration system, and additional litigation is just adding to the chaos,” said Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a lawyer and policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute.

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