The Laken Riley Act provides that illegal aliens who are charged with, arrested for, or admit to having committed any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury, or lesser crimes like theft or burglary, shall be detained by order of the Department of Homeland Security if not already detained by another law enforcement agency. The act is named after Riley because the illegal alien who killed her, a Venezuelan gang member, was apprehended and released.
The final vote in favor of the bill occurred on January 20, when the Senate passed it on a 64-35 vote. The cloture vote needed 60 “ayes” and got 61. A large majority of Democrats opposed the bill. President Trump signed the bill into law today, and Riley’s family attended the signing ceremony. Laken’s mother spoke:
I am at a loss to explain the Democrats’ fervent wish that illegal aliens, including violent gang members like Laken Riley’s murderer, continue to flood into our country, consuming vast resources and in many cases preying on innocent American citizens. But this is the hill the Democrats have chosen to die on.
In the past, we generally thought of Democratic Party positions as being emotionally appealing, if usually logically deficient. But those days are gone. These days, it is Republican initiatives that tug at the heartstrings. Maybe this has something to do with improved messaging by Republicans, but I think it is mostly a consequence of the fact that the Democrats’ policies have horrific consequences.
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