Senate Democrats face early test with vote on Laken Riley Act

Democrats will face an early test on how to navigate immigration under President-elect Trump on Thursday when the Laken Riley Act becomes the first bill to hit the Senate floor.

The bill, which would mandate federal detention of immigrants without legal status accused of theft, burglary and other related crimes, is set to become the first item voted on by the GOP-controlled Senate. 

The measure marks an opening salvo by the new majority as it tries to put Democrats in a tough spot from the outset on an issue that proved perilously difficult for them to handle throughout the 2024 election, giving Trump and Republicans a boost in the process.

“Everyone’s got to make their decisions,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) said, adding that he is not worried about this issue dividing the Senate Democratic Caucus. “We’ve accepted the need to do serious reform on immigration. A lot of us supported the bipartisan immigration bill that was pretty heavy on enforcement.” 

Early indications are that a sizable group of Democrats could not only vote to advance the bill, but would support the current version in a final floor vote.

Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), who was among the group of Senate Republicans who reintroduced the bill in the 119th Congress, told the Senate GOP during a lunch Wednesday that the bill has the requisite Democratic support to overcome a filibuster on Thursday, two sources told The Hill. 

Given that West Virginia Gov. and Sen.-elect Jim Justice (R) will not be seated in the upper chamber until Jan. 13 at the earliest, eight Democrats are needed to join Republicans to advance the bill. 

Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) have both signed on as co-sponsors, while Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) all said in recent days that they will vote with Republicans on it. 

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) told The Hill that she is “inclined” to support it. A number of others have said they want to open debate on the bill with an eye toward offering amendments.

To some who are supportive of the bill, there is more at play than just the policy. There’s also an element of politics, especially after what happened in November. 

“If we can’t get at least seven [votes] out of 47 … then that’s a reason why we lost,” Fetterman told Fox News on Wednesday. “That’s one of why we lost, in part.” 

The vote will take place days after 48 Democrats voted with every Republican to pass the same measure in the House. 

Riley, a Georgia college student, was killed in February by a Venezuelan migrant who had been arrested for shoplifting ahead of the attack and paroled in the country. The initial Thursday vote would take place the day before Riley’s birthday.

Where the bill goes from here remains up in the air. One Senate Republican said that amendment votes are expected next week, assuming Democrats vote to open debate on the bill, as they are likely to do. 

But Democrats are keeping their powder dry on potential amendments while laying out what they see as issues with the current bill. Welch indicated that he is concerned with handing state attorneys general more “room to interfere” with federal immigration policy. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) added that he wanted to dig in to the costs associated with the bill, including how to pay for detentions, and the requirement of detention upon arrest rather than conviction. 

Both said they had not yet decided how they would vote, though. 

Others, however, believe the bill doesn’t go far enough, especially after years of the party clamoring for a comprehensive immigration package. 

“The underlying act looks like a complete rewrite of the immigration code,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), one of the main negotiators involved in the bipartisan border package that was spiked by conservatives early last year. 

He also echoed Welch’s worry about new powers for attorneys general and complained about the potential ability for courts to rewrite immigration laws. 

“The underlying bill looks like a not-well-constructed piece of legislation, but we could potentially make it better,” he told reporters. “I think it’s going to make the immigration system much more complicated, byzantine and confusing.”

Murphy, however, did not shoot down the idea of supporting opening debate on the bill. 

Republicans believe the increased openness by Democrats to play ball on the bill is a sign that the election results have gotten through to them to a degree. When the bill first came up in the House last March, 37 Democrats supported the measure.

“They have just lost the presidency, they lost the Senate, the House has been sustained because people were very concerned about the border — the border and the economy,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said. “We’ve just rejected a party that’s been the party of high prices and open borders.”

“This is really going to define them if they don’t get on it,” he added.