With Fetterman’s help, Katie Britt says enough Senate Democrats on board to pass Laken Riley Act
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., has told Senate Republicans there appears to be enough Democrats to move forward on legislation seeking to impose stricter measures on undocumented migrants who commit crimes in the United States, her office confirmed Wednesday.
The measure known as the Laken Riley Act has the needed “eight Democrats who are currently expected to vote yes on the initial procedural vote” on the legislation, Britt spokesperson Grace Evans said. The motion to proceed requires support from 60 senators to overcome a filibuster, and there are currently 52 Republican senators in office.
The eight Democratic senators Britt’s office named as considered to support advancing the bill are John Fetterman of Pennsylvania; Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona; Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan; Jacky Rosen of Nevada; John Hickenlooper of Colorado; and Jon Ossoff of Georgia.
A procedural vote in the Senate is expected Thursday. The House on Tuesday voted 264-159 to pass that chamber’s version of the legislation.
Although the House passed a similar bill last year, the Senate, when it was still under Democratic control, did not take up the measure.
Fetterman is a supporter of the bill, and on a Fox News appearance called the bill common sense. “If you’re here illegally and you’re committing crimes, I don’t know why anybody thinks that it’s controversial, that they all need to go,” Fetterman said.
Gallego, newly sworn in as a senator, said in a news release Wednesday that he supports the bill and would join as co-sponsor. He voted for the measure last year when he was a member of the House.
“Arizonans know the real-life consequences of today’s border crisis,” Gallego said. “We must give law enforcement the means to take action when illegal immigrants break the law, to prevent situations like what occurred to Laken Riley. I will continue to fight for the safety of Arizonans by pushing for comprehensive immigration reform and increased border security.”
A Kelly spokesperson, Jacob Peters, said the senator’s support for the bill is part of a hope to reach bipartisan consensus on immigration issues.
“Senator Kelly will vote for the Laken Riley Act and looks forward to working with Republicans and Democrats on it and other solutions to secure the border and fix our broken immigration system,” Peters said.
Hickenlooper is also counted among the eight, although a spokesperson for the Colorado Democrat said that support for the time being is limited to ending a filibuster and not support for the legislation itself.
“The senator has not said he will vote for the Laken Riley Act,” said Anthony Rivera-Rodriguez, a Hickenlooper spokesperson. “He said he’s interested in voting to proceed to the bill to amend it. But he does not support the Laken Riley Act in its current form.”
Slotkin is considered a “yes” vote based on support for the legislation as a House member, according to Britt’s office. Later Wednesday, Slotkin’s office sent out a news release that said she plans to vote for the bill.
“Like many bills, this one isn’t perfect, and I’m hopeful there will be an amendment process,” Slotkin said. “But no matter what, this bill certainly doesn’t address the root causes of our broken immigration system, which we need to do to ever truly deal with immigration issues writ large in this country.”
Ossoff’s office pointed to comments he made to CNN on Tuesday indicating he’s “planning to vote to get onto the bill and see where (the) process goes from there.” Those same comments quote Slotkin as saying she’s “reviewing” the legislation.
In the Senate, Britt has taken the lead on the measure, which is named for a 22-year-old woman murdered last year by an undocumented immigrant who had been released after an arrest.
The legislation has two main components. One part requires the secretary of Homeland Security to issue a detainer for undocumented immigrants arrested for or convicted of burglary, theft or shoplifting. The other part lets states sue the federal government if they feel U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement doesn’t enforce the previous component of the bill.
Democratic support for the bill comes to the consternation of immigration advocates who say the measure would have a negative impact on immigrant families in the United States.
María Teresa Kumar, president of Voto Latino, said in a statement the legislation is a “chilling first step toward widespread family separation” and disregards due process.
“We can recognize that the immigration system is broken, and we’re open to thoughtful modernizations that prioritize fairness,” Kumar said. “However, this bill’s severe provisions would cause irreparable harm to longstanding families who have built lives and contributed to this country.”
The legislation also appears to seek to overturn a recent Supreme Court precedent ruling that individual states do not have a right to file lawsuits over immigration enforcement, which is under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, wrote in an op-ed for MSNBC the bill would give incredible power to the federal courts and state attorneys general considered hostile to immigration, such as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“Under a provision of the bill that has gotten little attention, federal courts in places like Texas and Louisiana could hear lawsuits seeking to impose sweeping bans on all visas from countries such as India and China,” Reichlin-Melnick said. “State officials could also seek court orders forcing the government to deport a specific individual without the sign-off of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.”
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