The United States Representatives Chamber on Wednesday gave its final approval to a bill that requires the arrest of unauthorized migrants who have been accused of robbery and violent crimes.
The United States Congress delivered on Wednesday to Republican President Donald Trump a legislation that allows the arrest of irregular immigrants living in the United States and are accused of robbery, with a significant number of Democrats who voted in favor.
The House of Representatives, of a Republican majority, approved by 263 votes in favor and 156 against the Laken Riley Law, which Trump must sign. It is expected to be the first of several measures adopted by Republicans this year to reinforce border security and further stop the flow of migrants to the United States.
The House of Representatives approved the bill with 46 Democrats who joined 217 Republicans. The Senate did it earlier this week with the help of 12 of the 47 Democrats and independent who are part of their parliamentary group. Without that dozen votes, the measure would have died in Congress for now.
The bill bears the name of a university student killed in the state of Georgia by a man of Venezuelan origin who lived illegally in the United States and had a history of theft in stores. It currently meets life imprisonment in prison.
The bill would require the arrest of suspicious immigrants of robbery or other crimes such as theft in stores, even if they have not been accused of any crime.
Trump won the November presidential elections after making immigration a main theme during his campaign, emboldearing Republicans to move forward with their hard hand agenda with immigrants.
The Democrats who supported the bill said they were reflecting their voters' concerns about immigration.
“The American people want us to do something about the border and I think it would be difficult not to say that we have to deport the criminals,” representative Tom Suzzi, a moderate Democrat who voted in favor of the bill.
Some more liberal Democrats have accused the party of adopting a soft position in immigration after the 2024 elections, when the Republicans took the majority control of the Senate and maintain a very scarce majority in the House of Representatives.
Democratic representative Ilhan Omar, one of the most liberal members of the parliamentary group, described Wednesday as “discouraging” that so many Democrats supported the bill.
The leader of the Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives, Pete Aguilar, said that there has been no setback in the support of his party to the immigration reforms, and pointed out that it was the Republicans who have repeatedly eliminated laws that were strong in terms of border security and aimed to modernize the United States Immigration Law.
“Democrats have not changed on this issue,” said Aguilar in response to a Reuters question. “We will continue talking about dreamers and agricultural workers” and those immigrants who have a legal status in the United States, he added. The term “dreamers” refers to immigrants who arrived illegally in the United States when they were children.
Almost a year ago, a similar bill was approved in the House of Representatives with the support of 37 Democrats, but did not prosper in the Senate controlled by the Democrats.