Democrats see the light. The Laken Riley deportation bill passed the Senate easily.
Good News From Senate Democrats
By a filibuster-proof margin, Senate Democrats Help Republicans Advance Immigration Crackdown.
Ten Democrats sided with Republicans to advance the legislation, called the Laken Riley Act, a sign of the Democrats’ shifting stance on immigration. Polls showed voters consistently favored Republicans’ hard line on the border and immigration, following a surge of illegal crossings that has since subsided. A bipartisan bill backed by President Biden stalled last year.
The chamber voted 61-35 to end debate on the bill, above the 60-vote threshold required for most legislation to advance. The vote puts the bill on track to clear the Senate next week on a simple majority, which would then send it back to the House to be approved and forwarded on to President-elect Donald Trump’s desk.
“We have irresponsible, open-border, soft-on-crime policies, and that must end,” said Sen. Katie Britt (R., Ala.), who led the legislation that was joined by two Democratic co-sponsors, Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman. “This bill will prevent countless nightmares,” she said.
Some Democrats attempted to force votes on amendments to exclude Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, recipients, as well as minors who arrived in the country illegally but aren’t DACA-eligible. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) declined to bring any to a vote.
The Laken Riley bill would widen the group of people eligible for deportation by including nonconvicted individuals, raising due-process concerns and rapidly expanding the pool of individuals who would be eligible for deportation.
A second provision of the bill would grant state attorneys general legal standing to sue federal immigration officials and to request intervention for individual cases. Some Democrats and legal experts said they expect the standing provision, a doctrine grounded in the Constitution, to be challenged as unconstitutional.
The Laken Riley Act could cost billions and take years to fully implement. A memo from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement circulated among senators before Friday’s vote estimated the annual cost of encoding the bill to be nearly $27 billion—about a quarter of the Homeland Security Department’s budget for the 2025 fiscal year.
The estimate accounts for the hiring of more than 10,000 enforcement officers, who conduct arrests and manage detention facilities, at a cost of $2.6 billion. The deportation push could also require the addition of multiple aircraft and ground transportation vehicles, along with more than 100,000 additional detention-facility beds.
An amendment introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) and added to the bill broadens the list of offenses that would require detention, including any arrest for assault of a law enforcement officer.
The legislation’s namesake, Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student in Athens, Ga., was murdered by a Venezuelan national living in the U.S. illegally. Jose Antonio Ibarra was found guilty of murder, kidnapping and other charges in the February 2024 killing. In November, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and was set to serve additional shorter sentences consecutively.
“A Blinding Flash of Common Sense”
On January 11, I reported “A Blinding Flash of Common Sense” from Democrats on Illegal Immigration
That’s six known with only one more [Democrat] needed to break any filibuster.
And even if it stopped at 6, I doubt senators would put their career on the line with a filibuster of this bill against clear national sentiment.
I expect another 6-12 Democrats will sign on, if not more.
Four more signed on. It would have been more were it not for a provision that may be unconstitutional.
Blinding Display of Expected Idiocy
In a blinding display of expected idiocy, the extreme Left-wing lunatics at The Slate call the bill a Horrifying Trojan Horse.
If the Slate is against something, I am highly likely for it, and vice versa.
Heading Toward a Sensible Policy
On December 24, I commented Trump Backs Down From Strong Sweeping Deportation Promise
Both Trump and his border czar are sending strong messages that Trump’s deportation plan won’t live up to his campaign hype.
Deal for Dreamers
I suspect Trump privately got some heat from some governors who understand the economic insanity of “deport them all”.
Regardless why, I get to say “I told you so” once again to those who cling to every word Trump says.
To get a bill through congress for more border patrols, ICE agents, and to finish the wall, Trump is going to have to cut a deal.
And that deal will be amnesty for dreamers.
If you want to know what kind of dreamer deal to expect, please see my November 7, 2024 post The New Home for Hispanics is the Republican Party
The great news today is there is a clear majority for sensible actions.
Deport them all won’t happen, but deport the criminals and seal the border will. That’s what I wanted all along.
We are rapidly heading in that direction due to “A Blinding Flash of Common Sense” in uncommon places.
Trump may get to sign this act on day one!