Adapted from a January 22, 2025 newsletter from NumbersUSA Co-CEOs Anne Manetas and Roy Beck
THIS REALLY IS A BIG DEAL.We have to go back to the Secure The Fence Act of 2006 to find the kind of bipartisan support for a new law to address enforcement failures. Back then, bipartisan support came from the likes of Senators Jeff Sessions (R-AL), John McCain (R-AZ), Joe Biden (D-DE), Hilary Clinton (D-NY) Barack Obama (D-IL), and Charles “Chuck” Schumer (D-NY). Can you believe that lineup?!! That was nearly twenty years ago.
It should not have taken the worst border crisis in history and the murder of a young nursing student to shake loose the bipartisan instinct for better immigration policy. Yet we can hope that the Laken Riley Act will be the first of many steps toward restoring Americans’ faith in immigration enforcement, and in immigration itself. That’s certainly what we are committed to seeing through.
In case you’ve missed it, the Laken Riley Act takes the modest step of requiring detainers on aliens who have been convicted or arrested for various forms of theft and/or assault. Perhaps the larger impact will come from the bill giving states standing in courts to sue the federal government if it fails to enforce immigration laws in the future.
In the previous Congress (118th), a slightly-weaker version of the Laken Riley Act passed the House with bipartisan support (37 Democrats voted for it). The Senate received the bill in March of 2024, but Democratic leadership never brought it up for a vote.
Jan. 7, 2025 – House passes H.R. 29
Fast forward to just the fourth day of this new Congress (119th). On January 7th, the House passed (264-159) the reintroduced Laken Riley Act (H.R. 29), sponsored by Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA). This time, 48 Democrats joined 216 Republicans in passing the bill (H.R. 29). A high percentage of incoming freshmen voted YES, reflecting the common wisdom that the November election results had a lot to do with Americans’ concerns about immigration policies.
Jan. 9, 2025 – Senate proves it’s possible to “get to 60”
Two days later, on January 9th, the Senate voted 84-9 to proceed to debate and amend the Senate version of the Laken Riley Act (S. 5), sponsored by Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL). The 84 “Yes” votes easily cleared the 60-vote threshold for overcoming a filibuster. Thirty-six Democrats and one Independent joined 47 Republicans to overwhelmingly move the bill forward. Only nine Senators, all Democrats, were opposed. Senators John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), and Gary Peters (D-MI) were among the most outspoken proponents of the measure.
Jan. 15, 2025 – S. 5 is amended & gets stronger
The Senate voted on two significant amendments to the bill.
Jan. 17, 2025 – 2nd cloture, by a nose
With the bill modestly strengthened, the Senate took a second cloture vote on January 17th, 61-35, to end debate and move toward a final vote. This time, the bill barely cleared the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster. Surprisingly (pleasantly so), 10 of the 44 Democrats who had voted to weaken the bill joined 51 Republicans to move the stronger bill forward.
The 10 Democrats who made the final vote possible were:
ARIZONA
Gallego
Kelly
GEORGIA
Ossoff
MICHIGAN
Peters
Slotkin
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Hassan
Shaheen
NEVADA
Cortez Masto
Rosen
VIRGINIA
Warner
We want to especially thank all of our members in those states for helping your Democratic Senators buck their Party leadership. We’re also thankful that the Party leaders apparently did not issue threats to those who decided to support more enforcement. All of that certainly was influenced by fall election results and state voters directly expressing their opinions through channels like NumbersUSA’s.
January 20, 2025 – Senate passes the Laken Riley Act
The amended bill passed 64-35. All 52 Republicans voted for the bill (Vice President Vance’s former Senate seat is currently vacant). More than 27% of the Democrats who had voted to weaken the bill with the Coons amendment voted for final passage of the strengthened bill (these 12 also voted for the Cornyn amendment that expanded the list of offenses that would require detention).
The 12 Democrats voting for final passage were:
ARIZONA
Gallego
Kelly
GEORGIA
Ossoff
Warnock
MICHIGAN
Peters
Slotkin
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Hassan
Shaheen
NEVADA
Cortez Masto
Rosen
PENNSYLVANIA
Fetterman
VIRGINIA
Warner
The new names on the list were Sen. Raphael Warnock (who had voted against the 2nd cloture) and Sen. Fetterman (who had missed the 2nd cloture vote).
Jan. 22, 2025 – House Passes S. 5
Because the Senate didn’t vote on the House-passed bill, but instead passed its own amended version, the Laken Riley Act had to travel back to the House of Representatives. Today, the House passed S. 5, 263-156. Forty-six Democrats joined 217 Republicans to prepare the bill for the president’s signature.
Two House Democrats who had helped pass the House version voted against the final bill after the Senate added various forms of assault to the list of offenses that would require mandatory detention: Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) & Rep. Val Hoyle (D-OR).
But the stronger bill picked up new support from two Democrats who had opposed the House version: Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA) and Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA). In addition, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) voted for the final bill after not voting the first time.
A “SMALL BUT CRITICAL STEP”
As Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) himself said on the Senate floor, the Laken Riley Act is a “small but critical step”:
“Mr. President, the first bill that a new majority considers is an indication of its priorities.
“The American people are rightly concerned about the illegal immigration crisis in this country.
“And they sent a clear message in November that they want to see it addressed.
“And that is why the Republican majorities in the House and Senate have made it our first order of business to take up the Laken Riley Act.
“This bill is a small but critical step toward resolving the Biden border crisis — the first of many, I might add.”
We were thrilled to hear Majority Leader Thune say: “THE FIRST OF MANY.”
That has to be our NumbersUSA mantra these next two years. There will be a temptation among many in Congress to assume that because they passed one good bill, that they have addressed enough of the concerns the American people have with our immigration policy. We will be here to constantly remind them that their work is far from over.
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