The Kansas congressional delegation voted to advance a bill to crack down on undocumented immigrants who commit serious crimes.
After Senate approval, the House voted to pass the Laken Riley Act. The legislation – named after a murdered Georgia nursing student – was passed Wednesday, aiming to clamp down on illegal immigrants who commit nonviolent crimes like theft. It will be the first bill sent to President Trump to sign into law after returning to the White House this week.
The Laken Riley Act would require ICE to detain undocumented immigrants who are charged, arrested, or convicted of committing acts of “burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.”
Kansas Senator Roger Marshall was one of the cosponsors of the bill in the Senate, and he issued a statement saying “I am glad to see this Congress kick off with a huge bipartisan win on this commonsense bill that fights for our communities’ safety and security. Laken Riley’s murderer should have never been allowed into our country.”
In the House, Kansas Democratic congresswoman Sharice Davids voted for the bill, along with Republicans Ron Estes, Tracey Mann and Derek Schmidt.
