The House of Representatives is slated to vote this week on legislation that would target illegal migrants who commit theft-related crimes, the Daily Caller News Foundation confirmed.
Republican Georgia Rep. Mike Collins’ Laken Riley Act would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to issue detainers and take custody of illegal migrants who commit “burglary, theft, larceny or [a] shoplifting offense” as well as grant states the authority to sue the federal government for non-enforcement of certain aspects of immigration law.
Collins’ office told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the House is set to vote on the Laken Riley Act, reintroduced by the Georgia Republican on Friday, as early as this week. The Laken Riley Act will be one of the first bills Speaker Mike Johnson moves for the House to consider in the 119th Congress.
I am proud to have reintroduced the Laken Riley Act into the 119th Congress. It’s time that we work together to ensure that no more innocent lives can be lost to a broken system. This Congress, Laken Riley will finally get justice.https://t.co/oJwPVDxXHE
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) January 3, 2025
“An illegal criminal came into my district and killed Laken Riley because our law enforcement did not have the tools to stop him,” Collins told the DCNF. “Laken fought until her last breath, and so will I until this bill crosses the finish line and lands on the President’s desk.”
Collins’ legislation is named in the memory of Laken Riley, a University of Georgia nursing student who was murdered by an illegal migrant while out on a run near her college campus in February 2024. Riley’s killer, Venezuelan national Jose Antonio Ibarra, had a criminal record in the United States prior to killing Riley and was convicted of murdering the 22 year-old college student in November 2024.
Ibarra and his brother were previously arrested in October 2022 for allegedly shoplifting at a Walmart in Athens, Georgia, but were ultimately released because the shoplifting charge was a misdemeanor. If Collins’ legislation is signed into law by President-elect Donald Trump, ICE would be required to detain illegal migrants like Ibarra who commit theft-related crimes in the United States, according to the bill text.
The Georgia Republican represents the district where Riley’s murder occurred and notably left his guest seat for Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address vacant to honor Riley’s memory and all victims of illegal migrant crime.
Collins originally introduced the legislation last Congress following Riley’s murder. The House passed Collins’ legislation in March 2024 with most House Democrats — 170 Democratic lawmakers in total — opposing the legislation.
“Laken was a kind and gentle soul beloved by everyone around her. May her memory be a blessing. Unfortunately, instead of coming together to express our sorrow for Laken’s tragic loss, the majority appears to be exploiting her death for yet another partisan political stunt,” Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, who led the debate on the bill’s opposition, said on the House floor shortly before the bill’s passage. “Republicans appear to have thrown together language from existing unrelated bills that target and scapegoat immigrants to score cheap political points in an election year while doing nothing to address the situation at the border. This approach is fundamentally unserious.”
Former Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer did not move to take up the legislation, forcing Collins to reintroduce his bill in the 119th Congress, which began Friday.
“It should pass the Senate. That doesn’t mean it will or it would, but it should. This is common sense legislation. This is good legislation, and this can help our local law enforcement so I would hope that the Senate would look at it from that standpoint,” Collins previously told the DCNF. “There’s nothing wrong with this bill. There’s nothing I could see that they could point at and say ‘That’s wrong,’ with this bill. And if we can pass this, we should pass it. It’s got a good chance of helping save a life.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s office did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s inquiry about whether he will move to have the Senate take up the legislation targeting illegal migrants who commit theft-related crimes.
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