Bipartisan bill provides more tools to fight illegal alien crime
FRANKFORT, Ky. (March 15, 2024) – Attorney General Russell Coleman joined a 26-state coalition calling on the U.S. Senate to quickly pass the Laken Riley Act, H.R. 7511. The bipartisan bill provides state governments and federal immigration authorities more tools to fight illegal alien crime.
“Our nation – and especially the Riley family – are witnessing the painful consequences of President Biden’s failed policies that have left our southern border wide open. We must secure our border and stop the flow of illegal immigration and deadly drugs from surging into every community and indeed making Kentucky a border state,” said Attorney General Coleman.
The measure honors Laken Riley, an innocent nursing student who was brutally murdered by an illegal alien. In broad daylight, Jose Ibarra is alleged to have attacked and killed Riley while jogging on the University of Georgia campus. Ibarra illegally entered the United States. He had been previously charged with child endangerment and shoplifting in 2023, but he was released back into the community.
The bill requires U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes. It also empowers state attorneys general to take action against the federal government for refusing to enforce immigration laws or “if an immigration related action harms the state or its citizens.”
“President Biden’s repeated actions of ignoring the rule of law and abandoning successful policies have created a border crisis of historic proportions,” the coalition writes. “As attorneys general, we are fighting to preserve the rule of law and keep our states safe when the federal government fails to act or, in the case of illegal immigration, actively makes it worse. To that end, we applaud the bill’s enforcement provision for State Attorneys General.”
Attorney General Coleman joined the South Carolina, Georgia and Florida co-led letter alongside Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
Read the letter here.
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