WASHINGTON — The Republican-led House on Wednesday passed the Raleigh Act, a tougher immigration detention measure for a 22-year-old Georgia nursing school student who was killed by an undocumented immigrant last year.
The legislation, which aims to crack down on people who commit non-violent crimes like theft in the US illegally, is expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump after he returns to the White House this week.
The House vote was 156-263, with 46 Democrats joining all Republicans in support of the measure. The bill passed the Senate on Monday by a vote of 64-35, with 12 Democratic votes. Among them is Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan. Jon Ossoff of Georgia; Jane Shaheen, of New Hampshire; And Virginia’s Mark Warner is up for re-election in 2026.
In November, Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan national who was in the U.S. illegally, was found guilty of kidnapping, assaulting and killing Riley while she was out for a walk near the University of Georgia campus in Athens. Abra was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
During the 2024 election campaign, Trump and Republicans highlighted that Ibarra had been cited by a Georgia police department for shoplifting, but that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had not issued an arrest warrant for him and detained him. I was not taken.
But the Raleigh Act, authored by Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., would require ICE to detain and detain undocumented immigrants who have committed “theft, theft, burglary, or shoplifting.” Accused, arrested or convicted.
“It’s bittersweet,” Collins said after the vote, adding that he had spoken with Riley’s family earlier in the day. “For a young woman who wanted to dedicate her career and her life to saving lives, now her name will live on and save lives.”
The first version of the bill passed the House by a vote of 264-159, with 48 Democrats supporting it. Last year, the GOP-controlled House passed the bill, but the Democratic-led Senate ignored it and President Joe Biden has never said whether he supports it.
“Now you have a willing partner in the Senate who actually wants to fight the real problems facing families, so you don’t have more but releases,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., wrote before the vote. Told the reporters.
“You don’t have more killings of innocent people because of an open border. President Trump has already taken action to change that open border,” he added.
The Senate passed two amendments to add to the list of acts that trigger the mandatory detention of unauthorized immigrants: one from Sen. John Corn, R-Texas, which includes assault on a police officer, and another From Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. , including acts causing death or bodily harm to an individual.
But the passage of the Raleigh Act comes amid a heated debate among Democrats over how to deal with immigration after the 2024 election defeat — and how to handle Trump’s mass deportation plans.
Pro-immigration activists have blasted the bill as a scheme to dismantle due process for immigrants and screw up the system, and some Democrats have called it an unfunded mandate that would cost billions. will Other Democrats in contested districts and states backed him, seeking to show support for aggressive immigration enforcement.
The politics of the issue has shifted to the right. According to NBC News exit polls, immigration ranked as the fourth biggest concern among voters in the 2024 election, and those Americans voted for Trump 89 percent to 9 percent over Democratic challenger Kamala Harris. Trump also held strong among Latino voters in general and won Latino men outright, exit polls showed.
Addressing party divisions over the bill, House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., told reporters: “Members will vote in their districts. Members have to balance … their love for this country. With the work they have for their constituencies we expect them to do both.
“The Democratic Caucus believes in a safe and secure border,” Aguilar continued. “We believe in managing the border and fixing our broken immigration system. We also believe in ensuring the public safety of our communities.”
But Democrats who oppose the Raleigh Act argue that the law is too strict.
“But Riley sets a trap to catch, arrest and deport people who have committed minor crimes. In that sense, it’s not a good thing,” said Rep. Adriano Espillat, the new chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. , DN.Y. , told NBC News.
“Any discussion that has to happen here around the issue of border security, the issue of immigration, has to include something about Dreamers, farmworkers and families,” he said.
But Riley’s father, Jason Riley, told NBC News in an interview that he was grateful to lawmakers who supported the legislation, which he said he believed was “politically wrong.” It has helped change things.”
“I think it turned out to be a good thing,” he said Wednesday. He added that he hated that her murder “became such a national story” and put the family in the spotlight, but he understood “why it became so politically charged.” .
“We are very happy with the way things have turned out,” he said.
