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Trump Signs Laken Riley Act, Securing First Legislative Victory of Second Term

The bill passed the House last week in a 263-156 vote, with 46 Democrats supporting it after the Senate approved the measure in a bipartisan 64-35 vote.

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Trump Signs Laken Riley Act, Securing First Legislative Victory of Second Term

President Trump on Wednesday signed the Laken Riley Act into law, marking his first legislative victory since returning to the White House after campaigning on immigration and border security during his 2024 run.

The bill passed the House last week in a 263-156 vote, with 46 Democrats supporting it after the Senate approved the measure in a bipartisan 64-35 vote.

“This is a very important law, this is something that has brought Democrats and Republicans together. That’s not something that’s easy to do — Laken did it. Laken did it. America will never, ever forget Laken Hope Riley,” Trump said at the bill signing, calling it “a landmark law” that can “save countless innocent American lives.”

The bill mandates the detention of a broad range of migrants without legal status, including those permitted to enter the U.S. to seek asylum, if they have been accused of theft, burglary, or shoplifting.

Some Democrats were in attendance at the White House for the bill signing, including Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who co-sponsored the legislation in the Senate.

Trump thanked the Republicans for voting for the bill, as well as the Democrats who voted across party lines, warning that those who didn’t vote for it “are going to be sorry.”

The president made targeting migrants who have committed crimes a central issue in his campaign, resonating with voters who supported a crackdown on immigration.

The law is named after Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was killed by a Venezuelan migrant arrested for shoplifting prior to the attack after being paroled into the country.

Riley’s parents and sister were present at the event, and her mother spoke before the bill signing, calling Trump “a man of his word.”

“Laken was a brilliant and beautiful 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia,” Trump said. “She was respected by everybody, even her teachers.”

He noted that Riley’s family “had a miserable period of time” after her murder during a jog on the University of Georgia campus. Trump added that the Venezuelan migrant who killed her was “set loose into our country by the last administration” after being arrested three times in the U.S.

Trump also highlighted recent deportations during his tenure, stating, “we’re getting them the hell out of here.”

“As president, I’m fighting every single day to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again. We don’t want this to happen,” he said.

The law also grants state governments the ability to sue the federal government for immediate relief to prevent a future administration from refusing to enforce immigration laws, something Trump argued occurred “for four long years” under former President Biden.

Cabinet members, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, were in the audience, along with the families of other Americans killed by individuals who recently entered the U.S.

“Many of the angel families here today were betrayed by the last administration and with its heartless and foolish and really very, very arrogant and very, very dumb policies, policies that aren’t really believable when you talk about common sense,” Trump said.

At the signing, Trump also announced he would sign an executive order to prepare Guantánamo Bay to “detain the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people.”

Critics took issue with a provision in the law requiring detention after someone is charged with a crime rather than after a conviction. The bill was first cleared by House GOP lawmakers in March, just weeks after Riley’s death, but the Senate, then controlled by Democrats, did not act on it until this year. The Republican-controlled Senate passed a version of the bill that included amendments to detain migrants charged with crimes causing death or serious bodily injury and assaulting a law enforcement officer.

Trump frequently referenced Riley’s case during his campaign, with her death becoming a flashpoint over immigration policy. When a Georgia judge in November charged Jose Ibarra, a 26-year-old Venezuelan migrant, with killing Riley, Trump called the verdict “justice.”

“The Illegal who killed our beloved Laken Riley was just found GUILTY on all counts for his horrific crimes,” the president, elected days earlier, said.

Trump kept his campaign promises to target migrants, especially those committing crimes in the U.S., through a series of executive orders on his first day back in office.

Signing the Laken Riley Act was part of Trump’s early actions on immigration. His executive orders include a pause on refugee admissions, reinstating a program pairing local law enforcement with immigration agents, and declaring a national emergency that paves the way for more active-duty military along the southern border, as well as funneling resources for the border wall.

He also signed an order labeling migration as an “invasion” and seeks to end asylum processing by designating migrants as a public health and national security threat.