WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers (KY-05), Dean of the House, voted for The Laken Riley Act, which passed the House on Tuesday. The bill was named in memory of the 22-year-old nursing student in Georgia, who was brutally murdered by an illegal alien, while she was out for a morning run in February 2024.
In November, Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, was convicted of Riley’s murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The bill requires the detention of illegal immigrants who commit theft and allows a state to sue the Federal government on behalf of their citizens for not enforcing the border laws, particularly in the case of parole.
“Laken Riley’s name has become common across America, and a grave reminder of the border crisis we have faced under the Biden Administration. Even after being cited by local police for shoplifting, Laken’s killer was not reported to ICE custody. Our immigration laws must be enforced for the safety and protection of the American people, now more than ever,” said Congressman Rogers. “Every state became a border state over the last four years, with skyrocketing crime rates and illegal drugs flooding into our communities. This bill is just the first step to making America safer.”
House Republicans led passage of the bill, while 159 Democrats voted against it, continuing the failed agenda of the Biden Administration. The bill now heads to the new Republican-led Senate for consideration.
For more information about Congressman Rogers’ work in Washington and at home in Kentucky, visit halrogers.house.gov and follow him on social media.
Click here to read the bill.
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Congressman Hal Rogers
2406 Rayburn House Office Building | Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4601
