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Republicans in Congress campaigned on border security last year.
So it should come as no surprise that his initial legislative action in 2025 will focus on illegal immigration and tightening the border.
Whether congressional Republicans appropriated the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley for political gain is debatable. Riley, 22, went for a run last February and never came back. Jose Antonio Ibarra murdered Riley. He entered the country illegally from Venezuela.
“He hit her in the head with a rock. This is one of the most heinous crimes you can imagine. People need to know what this animal did to her,” said Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., the lead sponsor of the immigration bill. .
SENATE TO JOIN REPUBLICANS TO ADVANCE LAKEN RILEY ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION BILL
Jose Ibarra was found guilty of 10 charges in the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Republicans seized on the episode. On the right, the Laken Riley case symbolized everything that was wrong about the border and the Biden administration. Days after Riley’s death last year, the House passed the Laken Riley Act. The bill requires federal detention for anyone in the country who is unlawfully arrested for burglary or theft. Republicans argued that Riley would be with us today if such a policy had been put in place to pick up Ibarra.
It will take months for Republicans in Congress to get on the same page when it comes to President-elect Donald Trump’s demand for a “big, beautiful bill” combined on tax policy, federal spending and immigration. President of the Chamber Mike JohnsonR-La., says the goal is to pass that reconciliation package by early April.
Passing a border security package by itself would be difficult enough, to say nothing of the cost. So congressional Republicans are aiming for the low-hanging fruit. So the GOP turned to an old standby as its primary legislative effort for the new year: the Laken Riley Act.
Progressive Democrats jumped in, accusing Republicans of misrepresenting the race.
“It’s simply an attempt to score cheap political points from a tragic death,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, said during the debate. “This is the Republican playbook over and over again. Scaring people about immigrants.”
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Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, accused Republicans of trying to “score cheap political points” by putting Laken Riley’s name on their illegal immigrant crime bill. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Today’s bill is an empty and opportunistic measure,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. “Pick a crime. Stick an immigration law template on it that covers convicted felons and then require the detention or deportation of certain people simply accused of committing the crime or arrested for committing the crime.”
“It’s very clear that House Republicans are going to push an anti-immigrant agenda,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif. “I personally voted against it because it would open a path for people with DACA to be deported, even if they’re around someone who committed a crime.”
Republicans applauded.
“To my fellow Democrats, I ask how many more laws with names attached to them do we have to pass before you take this crisis seriously?” asked Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., during a House debate.
The majority of Democratic criticism emanating from the left of the party and progressives.
But there is an evolution underway in the Democratic Party. A practical look at border security, immigration and how the party ignored the issue in the last election. And he probably paid the price.
LAKEN RILEY ACT PASSES HOUSE WITH 48 DEMS, ALL REPUBLICANS
Thirty-seven House Democrats voted in favor of the Laken Riley Act when the House passed the initial version of the bill last year. That number grew to 48 Democrats this week when the House passed the Laken Riley Act of 2025 on its first legislative vote of 2025.
An examination of the vote matrix shows how dozens of moderate Democrats or representatives from swing districts voted yes. Six Democrats who voted against last year changed their vote to yes this time.
That includes Reps. Brendan Boyle, D-Penn., Val Hoyle, D-Ore., Lucy McBath, D-Ga., Joe Morelle, DN.Y., Ritchie Torres, DN.Y. and Terri Sewell, D-Ala.
“I’m worried about what happened to Miss Riley.” said Morelle, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee. “I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to other people.”
Others did come from longtime conservative Democrats like Rep. Henry Cueller, D-Tex. It represents a border district. Asked why he voted yes, Cueller said, “That’s easy. We’re not going to welcome people who break the law.”
Other moderates from swing districts who voted yes included Reps. Angie Craig, D-Minn., Don Davis, D-N.C., Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.
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Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, speaks during a press conference on rising suicide rates in the U.S. Border Patrol Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
So did the Democrats have religion after the election?
“There was criticism that Democrats were not serious about immigration,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., candidly asked. “Was there regret and that’s why some of those votes changed?”
Jeffries attributed it to the new members joining the Democratic Caucus.
“My understanding is that there have been approximately eight to 10 additional Democratic votes this year compared to last year. There are 30 new members of the House Democratic caucus,” Jeffries said.
But even though the bill has passed the House, there’s always the Senate. And the Senate never considered last year’s Laken Riley Act.
“The Senate,” Collins lamented. “(The bill) got bogged down and never appeared anywhere. It fell into the black hole of the Senate. Like a lot of our legislation that we sent there.”
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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said it’s not “xenophobic” to want a secure border. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
But Republicans now control the Senate. Not the Democrats. New Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RSD, made sure his body also made the Laken Riley Act a top focus for early 2025.
“Senate Democrats uniformly opposed (the Laken Riley Act) last year, despite the fact that the bill received bipartisan support in the House of Representatives,” Thune said. “We’ll see what they do when the new Senate majority brings it up for a vote.”
Sen. John FettermanD-Penn., often shunned by his party, quickly signed on to the Laken Riley Act.
“It’s not xenophobic to want a secure border,” Fetterman said. “It’s not xenophobic if you don’t want people with criminal records who are actively breaking the law to stay here in the nation.”
Fetterman dismissed liberal concerns about violating the civil rights of undocumented people who may be detained.
“If they’re here,” Fetterman said, “technically, they’re already breaking the law.”
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A list of other Democrats quickly signed on to support the measure as well.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a freshman representing a battleground border state, was among them. He argues that Democrats botched the issue of border security in the election.
“There was inaction all together. It certainly cost the Democratic Party. And I would say potentially, the White House,” Gallego said. “I think we have to learn the lessons from this.”
The Senate votes today to break a filibuster to begin debate on the Laken Riley Act. It will go live next week if he clears this procedural hurdle today.
Republicans will offer other border security/immigration bills in the coming months. See if the Democrats join in. The lesson from the Laken Riley Act is that Democrats who represent competitive territory believe the party got it wrong when it came to border security. They are trying to inoculate themselves on this topic. And even if they are not all Democrats, this marks a different approach from the border party compared to last year.
