The Laken Riley Law, which stipulates federal detention in the US and possible deportation for irregular immigrants accused of theft and violent crimes, is the first legislation to be promulgated by President Donald Trump.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, signed on Wednesday Laken Riley Law as the first legislative piece of his government. The law requires the detention and possible deportation of people who are in the United States without residence permission and who are accused of theft and violent crimes before they have been convicted.
In a ceremony inside the White House, Trump described that under this new law, the Department of National Security must stop all irregular migrants who have been arrested for theft, theft, theft in stores, aggression to a police officer, Murder or any crime that results in death or serious injuries.
“With today's action, we will keep Laken's memory alive in our hearts forever; his name will also live forever in the laws of our country. And this is a very important law. It is something that has joined Democrats and Republicans. It is not easy to do it, but Laken did it, “said the president.
Laken Riley was a 22 -year -old Georgia student, who was running in February 2024 and was killed by a Venezuelan citizen who was in the United States without residence permission.
During the signing of the norm were the parents and sister of Riley. “We have to thank her daughter for this. She will be responsible for saving many lives,” said the president.
Allyson Phillips, Riley's mother, said he was “infinitely grateful” for support for legislation. In tears, Phillips said that “there is no change that returns to our beautiful Laken” but they expect “in the future, to help save lives.”
The measure was rapidly approved by the Congress controlled by Republicans with some Democratic support, despite the fact that the defenders of immigrants have criticized it for being extreme enough to possibly trigger massive raids of people for crimes as lower as the minor theft.
However, Trump has made the promised campaign against illegal immigration, unprecedented in the history of the nation, a central element of his political career and now suggests that the law could only be the beginning.
“This shows the potential for new security bills that will help us fight criminal foreigners and completely restore the rule of law in our country,” said the president at a republican conference of the Chamber held at his golf club Doral in Florida.
Trump began the signing ceremony of the law with statements highlighting the “victories” of his administration in the first nine days since the presidency assumed. The president has signed about 350 executive orders since he arrived at the White House.
The story behind this law
The law bears the name of the nursing student who was killed last year by José Antonio Ibarra, 26, who attacked her when she jogged down the Campus of the University of Georgia. The man had been arrested by federal authorities after crossing the border irregularly, however, he was left on probation.
“This horrible atrocity should occur. And as president, I fight every day to ensure that a tragedy like this does not happen again. We do not want this to happen again,” Trump described.
Ibarra was convicted in November and sentenced to life imprisonment without probation.
“Having a bill of such importance named in his honor is a great, great tribute,” Trump said referring to Laken Riley. “This new form of crime, illegal criminals, is – is massive, the numbers are massive and that adds to the crime we already had.”
The speed with which the law was approved by Congress – and the fact that Trump has triumphantly signed it in the White House surrounded by legislators and other guests, just nine days after assuming the position – increases its powerful political symbolism for the Conservatives
“Laken was a brilliant and beautiful 22 -year -old nursing student from Georgia … She was a light of warmth and goodness in each room, for her parents and her family,” Trump described during the ceremony.
Critics say that the measure takes advantage of a tragedy to unleash what in practice will be chaos and cruelty, and recently to combat crime or repair a federal outdated immigration system that has not been reviewed in decades.
According to Laken Riley Law, federal officials are obliged to arrest any immigrant arrested or accused of crimes such as theft or aggression to a police officer, as well as crimes that leave dead or injured.
In addition, it grants powers to state general prosecutors to sue the United States Government for damages caused by federal federal immigration decisions, which could cause conservative states leaders to help dictate the immigration policy established by Washington.
Ibarra had been arrested by illegal entry in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, in the midst of an unprecedented increase in arrivals, and was released to continue its case in the immigration court. Federal officials say that he was arrested by the New York Police in August 2023 for endangering a minor and then released. Police say that he was also suspicious of robbery in Georgia in October 2023, all of which happened before Riley's murder.
“This is the right thing,” said the president of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, Republican by Louisiana, after the law was approved by the Chamber. “It is always good when the right thing is also the popular.”
Criticism
However, some Democrats have questioned the constitutionality of the project. Immigrants' defenders are preparing for mass arrests that, they say, will assume an expensive construction of immigrant detention centers to house the arrested people.
“Not only do they celebrate. They use this for their mass deportation program, ”said Naureen Shah, deputy director of government affairs in the Equality Division of the American Union of Civil Liberties (ACLU, for its acronym in English).
ACLU says that the law can allow people to be “mandatory – maybe for years – because at some point in their lives, perhaps decades ago, they were accused of non -violent crimes.”
Hannah Flamm, interim policy director in the international refugee assistance project, said the law violates the fundamental rights of immigrants by allowing the arrest of persons who have not been accused, much less convicted, for crimes. However, he said, “the latent fear of the electoral cycle seems to indulgent with the crime resulted in help and complicity for Trump's total equalization of immigration with crime.”
Flamm said that the law is likely to be challenged in court by its guidelines for mandatory arrests, as well as by granting legal capacity to state general prosecutors in immigration cases and policies. But he also predicted that the need to pay more immigrant detention centers will give defenders the opportunity to challenge how federal funds are assigned to cover those costs.
“I think it is essential to understand that this bill, presented as related to a tragic death, is a pretext to strengthen a mass deportation system,” Flamm said.
The signing of the Law Laken Riley follows a series of executive orders of Trump's first week designed to better seal the border between the United States and Mexico and eventually move towards the deportation of millions of immigrants without permanent legal status in the United States. The new government has also canceled refugee resettlement and says it could try to process local officials who do not comply with their new immigration policies.
“We are tracking illegal foreign criminals and we are stopping them and we are long for our country,” Trump said. “We do not apologize, and we are advancing very fast.”
(With information from The Associated Press)