by Dave Williams | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The U.S. House of Representatives has passed Republican-backed legislation named in honor of Georgia murder victim Laken Riley as the first act of the new Congress.
The Laken Riley Act requires detention of illegal immigrants charged with nonviolent crimes including theft and burglary. It cleared the House 264-159 on Tuesday, with 48 Democrats – including U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of Marietta – joining majority Republicans in voting for the bill.
Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was murdered last February while jogging on the campus of the University of Georgia. An illegal immigrant from Venezuela was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Jose Ibarra had previously been detained on shoplifting charges but was released from custody.
The Riley case became fodder for last year’s presidential campaign, with Republican former President Donald Trump raising her murder in his call for a crackdown on illegal immigration on his way to winning a second term in the White House. Trump will take the oath of office Jan. 20.
The four Democrats in Georgia’s House delegation other than McBath voted against the bill, while all nine Republicans voted in favor of it.
The House passed the legislation last year, but it failed to get through a then-Democratic controlled U.S. Senate. While the Senate is now in Republican hands, some Democrats still would have to support the bill to gain the 60-vote threshold needed to pass legislation in the 100-member Senate.
