Laken Riley Act
Summary: Anyone who is charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or has admitted to theft, and is not here legally, must be detained by ICE. Additionally, this bill allows states to sue the federal government if they feel as though the government is not meeting its obligations when it comes to immigration enforcement.
The Laken Riley Act, or SB 5, allows for two major changes to the Immigration and Nationality Act. First, it requires, not allows, that Homeland Security order someone to be detained for theft or shoplifting. Specifically, it requires that someone be detained if they have been charged with, arrested for, convicted of, admitted to having committed, or just admitted to things that might meet the definition of burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. It also adds that someone must be detained in the same situations for assault of a law enforcement officer or any crime that causes serious bodily injury or death to another person.
If the person is not already detained, this new law requires that the person be taken into custody quickly.
The second part of the new law says that a state can sue the federal government if they do not think that the Department of Homeland Security is doing its job when it comes to detaining and removing people, allowing people who are undocumented to be on bond, or taking away peoples’ visas in their home state. A state attorney general, on behalf of the state’s citizens, can file this lawsuit against DHS, and this law requires that the case move through the court as quickly as possible.
This bill has been approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate. We anticipate it will be signed very soon by President Trump.