By Richard Cowan and Bo Erickson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Thursday was expected to advance a bill to require the federal government to detain migrants living in the U.S. illegally who are detained for suspected criminal activity, even if they are not charged with crimes, as a growing number of Democrats voiced support for the Republican-backed measure.
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, passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday by a vote of 264-159, with 48 Democrats supporting the measure.
The Senate vote comes just 11 days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who campaigned on a promise to crack down on illegal immigration and “migrant crime.”
A range of studies by academics and think tanks have shown that immigrants do not commit crime at a higher rate than native-born Americans.
With a majority that currently stands at 52-47, Senate Republicans would need eight Democrats to support the measure to meet the chamber’s threshold of 60 of 100 senators agreeing on most legislation. A handful of Democrats have already voiced support, including cosponsor Senator John Fetterman and Senator Mark Kelly.
“It’s about border security and keeping Americans safe,” Democratic Senator Gary Peters told reporters on Tuesday shortly after the House vote, when asked if he would vote for the bill.
Peters is among the one-third of senators up for election in 2026. He hails from Michigan, a state that Trump narrowly won over Vice President Kamala Harris.
The House passed a similar bill last year, which the then-Democratic-majority Senate ignored. Another 11 House Democrats supported the bill on its second go-round.
“It’s a common-sense piece of legislation. This was the most litigated issue of the last four years and the American people spoke,” Republican Senator Katie Britt, a sponsor of the bill, told reporters.
Many Democrats see it as a back-door way for racial profiling by law enforcement and trampling on constitutional protections.
“This bill ends due process for immigrants, including DACA recipients,” said Democratic Representative Veronica Escobar, referring to Washington’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that shields young undocumented immigrants brought across U.S. borders by parents or other adults.
She added that the legislation would require the federal government “to detain people indefinitely even if they have not been convicted of or even charged with a crime.”
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.
Thursday’s likely vote to move toward debating this controversial bill does not necessarily mean it will have enough votes for passage. Leading Democrats are expected to insist on amendments to achieve broader immigration reforms.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, one of a handful of senators who crafted a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration and border security bill early last year that Trump rejected, told reporters: “I don’t like the (Laken Riley) bill but I’m open to trying to make it better.”
It was unclear whether Democrats’ insistence on amendments would slow the bill or even kill it.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan and Bo Erickson; Editing by Scott Malone and Jamie Freed)
