Legislators of Kan. voted to advance the Laken Riley Anti-Illegal Immigration Act

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats, recently in the minority, voted with Republicans on Thursday to pass legislation that would require federal authorities to detain undocumented immigrants accused of certain crimes, signaling they will try to find places to work with the newly elected the president Donald Trump while trying to block much of it agenda.

Leader of the Democrats in the Senate Chuck Schumer and most other Democrats voted to continue the law, advancing the bill 84-9. Trump and Republicans pushed the bill and made it a priority after Georgia nursing student Laken Riley was killed last year a Venezuelan who entered the US illegally and was allowed to stay for an immigration hearing. Kansas Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall both voted for the majority. Democratic senators Booker, Hirono, Kim, Markey, Merkley, Sanders, Schatz, Smith and Warren voted against the bill.

However, Schumer has not promised to vote for the final bill — and he has made clear that Democrats will only allow it to pass if Republicans work with them on bipartisan amendments. A procedural vote on Thursday will allow that process to begin.

Schumer said Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., “said he wants to make the Senate a place where all members should be able to have a voice. This bill would be a great place to start.”

Schumer backed the bill after Democrats lost the Senate and the presidency in November’s election and is trying to craft a smart fight against Trump while trying to block much of his agenda. Republicans will need seven Democratic votes to pass most major policy items in the 53-47 Senate, and Schumer says Thune will have to work with them to get results.

The new Democratic strategy is a change from Trump’s first term, when Democrats openly and aggressively fought Trump on policy. And it shows the delicate balance Schumer is trying to strike after Republicans dominated last year’s election and some more moderate members of his faction are trying to show they can work with the new president.

Moderate Democrats have supported some Republican efforts to fight immigration and have made it clear they may support the final bill. Several Democrats who ran for re-election last year introduced stricter immigration controls as a way to blunt GOP attacks as the Biden administration struggled to deal with an influx of migrants at the southwest border.

The House of Representatives, including all members of the Kansas delegation, passed the legislation earlier this week, making the legislation one of the first acts in the new Republican-controlled Congress after they seized on Riley’s killing as a rallying cry during the election. . U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is required to arrest unauthorized immigrants who commit theft, burglary, theft, or shoplifting and detain them until they are removed from the United States.

The bill would also allow states to sue the federal government if they can demonstrate harm caused by immigrants who entered the country illegally.

House passed the bill last yearbut Schumer did not bring it to a vote when the Democrats were in the majority.