Washington, Jan 22 (EE). – The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a law that gives immigration authorities the green light to detain undocumented immigrants who commit theft and other minor crimes, becoming the first law signed by President Donald Trump in his second term.
The initiative was approved in the House of Representatives on Wednesday with 262 votes in favor, including the Republican caucus and 46 of the Democratic Party, and 156 votes against.
The legislation was approved in the Senate on Monday with 64 votes in favor (including 12 Democratic senators) and 35 against.
The bill was named after Laken Riley, a nursing student murdered in Georgia in 2024 and José Ibarra, a Venezuelan migrant, was convicted of the crime.
Arrests under this law include petty theft in supermarkets or stores. Detainees will be placed in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The text also empowers state attorneys general to intervene in federal immigration policy decisions.
Among their new powers, they will be able to force the State Department to stop issuing visas to citizens of countries that do not accept deportations from the United States.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argued that the bill would benefit private prison companies by mandating detention for minor offenses.
“I want folks at home to look at what of Congress are invested in private prisons companies, who receive this kind of money, and look at the votes on this bill,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
The proposal, authored by Georgia Republican Congressman Mike Collins, has also been criticized by immigration law experts and activists who say it undermines due process and paves the way for mass deportations.
According to US media estimates, the government would have to spend more than 3 billion dollars more in the budget to implement such a law and increase the capacity of immigrant detention centers to more than 60,000 beds. EFE
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