The two Democratic senators representing Laken Rileyâs home state of Georgia remain noncommittal on legislation bearing her name nearly a year after she was murdered by an illegal migrant.
The Senate is slated to hold a procedural vote on the Laken Riley Act, legislation that requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and local law enforcement to detain illegal migrants who commit theft-related crimes, as early as Friday. Most Senate Democrats, including Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, have refrained from supporting the bill, according to the Daily Caller News Foundationâs multiple inquiries to every Democratic lawmaker on whether they back the Laken Riley Actâs passage.
The Laken Riley Act is named in honor of the 22 year-old University of Georgia nursing student who was murdered by an illegal migrant while out on a run near her college campus in February 2024. The legislation is notably backed by members of Rileyâs family and is sponsored by the entire Senate Republican conference as well as Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Ruben Gallego of Arizona.
Democratic Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock have notably refrained from expressing support for the bill despite Riley previously being one of their constituents.
An Ossoff spokesperson referred the DCNF to a statement the senator gave to CNN yesterday that he will vote to advance the bill during a procedural vote. The spokesperson did not address the DCNFâs inquiry about whether the senator supports the bill in its current form and will ultimately vote for the Laken Riley Actâs passage.
Ossoff, one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents, is expected to face a tough reelection fight in 2026. Ossoff narrowly won his first Senate election in the state by just 55,000 votes during a runoff against former Republican Georgia Sen. David Perdue in January 2021.
A spokesperson for Warnock did not respond to the DCNFâs multiple inquiries about whether he will vote for the Laken Riley Act.
âThe Laken Riley Act is good bipartisan legislation that will save lives and bring justice to a young woman who was killed by an illegal criminal,â Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins, the lead sponsor of the Laken Riley Act in the House, told the DCNF Wednesday. âI do not know how any elected official, whether in the House or Senate, can go back to their constituents and tell them that they voted to keep dangerous criminals in their communities.â
âIf there are any two U.S. Senators in our country that should vote âYesâ on the Laken Riley Act it is Senators Warnock and Ossoff,â Collins added. âShe was their constituent, and she would still be alive today if this legislation had been in place.â
Rileyâs killer, Venezuelan national Jose Antonio Ibarra, had a criminal record in the United States prior to murdering Riley. Ibarra was arrested in October 2022 for allegedly shoplifting at a Walmart in Athens, Georgia, but was ultimately released because the shoplifting charge was a misdemeanor. Despite residing in the U.S. illegally, Jose Ibarra reportedly arrived in Georgia after receiving a âhumanitarian flightâ from New York City in 2023.
If the Laken Riley Act passes the Senate and is signed into law by President-elect Donald Trump, ICE and local law enforcement would be required to detain illegal migrants like Ibarra who commit theft-related crimes in the United States, according to the bill text.
Democratic Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, who is facing a competitive reelection contest in a swing state that President-elect Donald Trump won in November, is reportedly backing the legislation, though a Petersâ spokesperson did not respond to the DCNFâs multiple inquiries about why the Michigan Democrat is supporting the bill.
Democratic Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper will vote to advance the Laken Riley Act during a procedural vote, but wants the legislation to be subject to an amendment process and does not support the bill in its current form, a spokesperson told the DCNF.
Other Democratic lawmakers who could face competitive reelection bids in 2026, including Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Tina Smith of Minnesota and Ben Ray LujĂĄn of New Mexico are thus far noncommittal on the bill. Spokespersons for these Democratic lawmakers did not respond to the DCNFâs multiple inquiries about whether they support the legislation.
The bill passed passed the House overwhelmingly in a 264-159 vote Tuesday afternoon with roughly a fifth of House Democrats voting in support of the legislation. The Laken Riley Act would need to overcome the Senateâs 60-vote threshold to secure its passage in the upper chamber, requiring five other Democratic lawmakers in addition to Fetterman, Gallego and Peters to support the bill.
âItâs really common sense,â Fetterman told Fox Newsâ Bret Baier Tuesday. âWe have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of migrants here illegally that have convicted of crimes ⌠who wants to defend it to allow them to remain in our nation?â
âIf youâre here illegally and youâre committing crimes and those things, I donât know why anybody thinks that itâs controversial that they all need to go,â Fetterman added.
Republican Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, the lead sponsor of the Laken Riley Act in the Senate, thanked Gallego for signing on as a cosponsor of the bill Wednesday. Gallego, a former House lawmaker, notably supported the legislation during the last Congress when the bill was subject to a vote in the House.
âIâd like to thank Senator Gallego for cosponsoring the bipartisan Laken Riley Act,â Britt told the DCNF. âThis commonsense legislation would keep American families safe, and every single Senator should support it.â
Fetterman appeared to tell Baier Tuesday that if the Laken Riley Act falls short on Friday due to the majority of Senate Democrats opposing the legislation then the billâs failure will be the latest sign that the Democratic Party is out of step with the American public on the issues of border security and illegal immigration.
âThereâs 47 of us in the Senate, and if we canât pull up with seven votes ⌠then thatâs the reason why we lost ,â Fetterman told Baier. âThey have said, âWe want you to find ways to have commonsense, bipartisan solutions to help us secure our border and keep our country and communities safe.â And so Iâm hopeful that our colleagues will come together.â
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