Posted on 01/19/2025 4:22:24 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Democrats see the light. The Laken Riley deportation bill passed the Senate easily.
By a filibuster-proof margin, Senate Democrats Help Republicans Advance Immigration Crackdown.
Ten Democrats sided with Republicans to advance the legislation, called the Laken Riley Act, a sign of the Democrats’ shifting stance on immigration. Polls showed voters consistently favored Republicans’ hard line on the border and immigration, following a surge of illegal crossings that has since subsided. A bipartisan bill backed by President Biden stalled last year.
The chamber voted 61-35 to end debate on the bill, above the 60-vote threshold required for most legislation to advance. The vote puts the bill on track to clear the Senate next week on a simple majority, which would then send it back to the House to be approved and forwarded on to President-elect Donald Trump’s desk.
“We have irresponsible, open-border, soft-on-crime policies, and that must end,” said Sen. Katie Britt (R., Ala.), who led the legislation that was joined by two Democratic co-sponsors, Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman. “This bill will prevent countless nightmares,” she said.
Some Democrats attempted to force votes on amendments to exclude Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, recipients, as well as minors who arrived in the country illegally but aren’t DACA-eligible. But Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) declined to bring any to a vote.
The Laken Riley bill would widen the group of people eligible for deportation by including nonconvicted individuals, raising due-process concerns and rapidly expanding the pool of individuals who would be eligible for deportation.
A second provision of the bill would grant state attorneys general legal standing to sue federal immigration officials and to request intervention for individual cases. Some Democrats and legal experts said they expect the standing provision, a doctrine grounded in the Constitution, to be challenged as unconstitutional.
The Laken Riley Act could cost billions and take years to fully implement. A memo from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement circulated among senators before Friday’s vote estimated the annual cost of encoding the bill to be nearly $27 billion—about a quarter of the Homeland Security Department’s budget for the 2025 fiscal year.
The estimate accounts for the hiring of more than 10,000 enforcement officers, who conduct arrests and manage detention facilities, at a cost of $2.6 billion. The deportation push could also require the addition of multiple aircraft and ground transportation vehicles, along with more than 100,000 additional detention-facility beds.
An amendment introduced by Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) and added to the bill broadens the list of offenses that would require detention, including any arrest for assault of a law enforcement officer.
The legislation’s namesake, Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student in Athens, Ga., was murdered by a Venezuelan national living in the U.S. illegally. Jose Antonio Ibarra was found guilty of murder, kidnapping and other charges in the February 2024 killing. In November, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole and was set to serve additional shorter sentences consecutively.
On January 11, I reported “A Blinding Flash of Common Sense” from Democrats on Illegal Immigration
That’s six known with only one more [Democrat] needed to break any filibuster.
And even if it stopped at 6, I doubt senators would put their career on the line with a filibuster of this bill against clear national sentiment.
I expect another 6-12 Democrats will sign on, if not more.
Four more signed on. It would have been more were it not for a provision that may be unconstitutional.
In a blinding display of expected idiocy, the extreme Left-wing lunatics at The Slate call the bill a Horrifying Trojan Horse.
If the Slate is against something, I am highly likely for it, and vice versa.
On December 24, I commented Trump Backs Down From Strong Sweeping Deportation Promise
Both Trump and his border czar are sending strong messages that Trump’s deportation plan won’t live up to his campaign hype.
Deal for Dreamers
I suspect Trump privately got some heat from some governors who understand the economic insanity of “deport them all”.
Regardless why, I get to say “I told you so” once again to those who cling to every word Trump says.
To get a bill through congress for more border patrols, ICE agents, and to finish the wall, Trump is going to have to cut a deal.
And that deal will be amnesty for dreamers.
If you want to know what kind of dreamer deal to expect, please see my November 7, 2024 post The New Home for Hispanics is the Republican Party
The great news today is there is a clear majority for sensible actions.
Deport them all won’t happen, but deport the criminals and seal the border will. That’s what I wanted all along.
We are rapidly heading in that direction due to “A Blinding Flash of Common Sense” in uncommon places.
Trump may get to sign this act on day one!
SEE HERE:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5091435-senate-advances-laken-riley-act/
Senators voted 61-35 to end debate on the bill, with 10 Democrats voting with every Republican; 60 votes were needed.
Democrats who voted “aye” were Sens. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Jon Ossoff (Ga.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Mark Warner (Va.) and Elissa Slotkin (Mich.). Gallego and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who did not vote, were co-sponsors of the legislation.
The vote tees up final passage of the immigration-related bill in the upper chamber early next week. It will need to head to the House for approval once again before Trump can sign it.
NOTEABLE NAYS: Liz Warren (MA), Chuck Schumer (NY), Bernie Sanders (VT), Cory Booker (NJ), Mazie Hirono (HI)
it’s a small step in the right direction. But this legislation shouldn’t even be needed. They’re already here illegally, just round them up and ship them out!
Commies.
I thought Markey-Ma. voted against it.
Marko
Huh, interesting that the dems signed on. Especially this soon after an election as you’d assume they’re safe for at least a couple of years. This bill must have truly been an albatross that they expected to come back during the next election cycle.
And traitors as well.
They probably how positively deportation will be viewed in the future and don’t want a no vote coming back to bite them.
I think it was indefensible to oppose it the way it was written.
It'll take a lot more than a few of them voting on one bill to convince me the Demons are "shifting their stance."
How many of them are up for re-election in the next Senate cycle?
So, why cannot Biden “receive” the bill tomorrow morning (before 12:00 AM), then veto it immediately?
The veto would be a publicity stunt - even with enough votes today, but would give Biden-Obama-Harris-Schumer the liberal publicity they crave.
Then awesome job to whomever crafted it.
If my hunch is correct, agreed. That is why we have to get back to having budgets and real legislation. This legislation is good. But in the past, the Democrats would have included horrible things in a Continuing Resolution, and any pros and cons would have never seen the light of day.
Didn’t happen.
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