Senate Democrats Back Republican Migrant Crime Bill

WASHINGTON, DC (Reuters) – More than half the U.S. Senate’s Democrats joined with Republicans on January 9 to advance a bill that would require the federal government to detain migrants living in the country illegally who are suspected of crimes, even if they are not charged.

The Republican-majority Senate voted 84-9 — with 33 Democrats in favor — to move towards debating the legislation, named the “Laken Riley Act” after a Georgia college student who was murdered last year by a Venezuelan man previously arrested for shoplifting.

The bill passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 264-159, with 48 Democrats supporting it.

A range of studies by academics and think tanks have shown that immigrants do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans.

A December Reuters/Ipsos poll found that Americans ranked immigration as the top issue they wanted Trump to address in his first 100 days in office, with respondents overall favoring Republicans’ approach to the issue over Democrats’ by 42 percent -22 percent.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer voted in favor, as did several other Democrats in competitive states, including Senators John Fetterman and Ruben Gallego, who have both signed on as cosponsors, and Senator Mark Kelly. “If we get on the bill, Democrats want to have a robust debate where we can offer amendments and approve the bill,” Schumer said on the Senate floor ahead of the Jan. 9 vote.

Many of the Democrats who supported the bill hailed from states that Trump won in the November, including Senators Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia.

Many Democrats see it as a back-door way for racial profiling by law enforcement and trampling on constitutional protections.

Trump has used harsh terms when describing immigrants in the United States illegally or awaiting asylum hearings, calling them “animals” when talking about alleged criminal acts.