NewsNation host Chris Cuomo questioned Democratic New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker on Tuesday about voting against the Laken Riley Act, which would mandate federal immigration authorities detain illegal migrants who commit theft-related crimes in the U.S.
The Senate passed the bill shortly after President Donald Trump was sworn in on Monday, with only 12 Democratic senators voting in favor. Cuomo, on “CUOMO,” said he could not fathom how any lawmaker would oppose the bill, but Booker asserted his decision was based on the bill’s broader implications.
WATCH:
“I got to tell you, that Laken Riley bill — I don’t understand anybody who would vote against that … I mean you’re saying it right now as a proposition, senator, that if somebody’s here illegally — I mean that’s the key word — but even if you forgive the entry, if they’re here and they commit a serious crime against women or children, who would vote against a bill to superpower authorities to get them out of here?” Cuomo asked.
Booker insisted that he “would never vote against a bill that did that,” but argued that the legislation was falsely advertised.
“This is what the bill was advertised as, but Chris, please. I wish I had the text of the bill here. It creates a mandatory detention for anyone so much as accused of any crime, even shoplifting,” Booker said. “Anybody of any age, even if the charges are cleared, that will suck up, as we were told by law enforcement professional after law enforcement professional, when you say it’s mandatory, when your department can be sued, you’re going to be drawing and billions of dollars of resources that should be better targeted and applied to the dangerous folks.”
“And, it gives every attorney general in the country the ability to sue the federal government if they allow even one person from, say, India in, if India is not fully complying with our visa application,” he continued. “So in other words, one attorney general can upend all of our immigration law and stop people coming in for research. Stop engineers coming in. Read the fine print.”
Cuomo responded that he was aware of the provisions included in the legislation, which would enable states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for damage caused to their residents due to illegal immigration.
The House passed its version of the legislation in a 264-159 vote, with all Republicans and 48 Democrats voting in support. If the House approves the Senate’s amendments, the bill will head to Trump’s desk for his signature.
The bill was named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan illegal immigrant convicted of her murder in November.
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