Senate Majority Leader John Thune told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Monday that the Senate has prioritized cracking down on illegal migrant criminals as its first order of business, citing an “urgent need” for action in response to the ongoing Biden-Harris border crisis. “Laken Riley’s horrific murder at the hands of an illegal alien should have never happened,” Thune told the DCNF. “There is an urgent need to take action regarding the border crisis to protect the American people, which is why I chose this as the first bill [Laken Riley Act] the Senate will vote on this Congress.”
The Senate is expected to vote on the legislation as soon as this Friday, according to information obtained by the DCNF. Additionally, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote this week on companion legislation, sponsored by Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins, which also aims to target illegal migrants involved in theft-related crimes. “An illegal criminal came into my district and killed Laken Riley because our law enforcement did not have the tools to stop him,” Collins told the outlet. “Laken fought until her last breath, and so will I until this bill crosses the finish line and lands on the President’s desk.”
The bills are intended to honor the memory of Laken Riley, a University of Georgia nursing student tragically murdered by an illegal migrant while out on a run near her campus in February 2024. Riley’s killer, Venezuelan national Jose Antonio Ibarra, had a prior criminal record in the U.S. before murdering the 22-year-old college student, and was convicted of her murder in November 2024. Ibarra and his brother had been arrested in October 2022 for allegedly shoplifting at a Walmart in Athens, Georgia, but were released because the shoplifting charge was classified as a misdemeanor, according to multiple reports.
If the legislation currently under consideration in the House and Senate passes and is signed into law by President-elect Donald Trump, federal immigration authorities would be required to detain illegal migrants like Ibarra who commit theft-related crimes in the U.S. The Trump-Vance transition team did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s inquiry regarding whether Trump would sign the legislation aimed at cracking down on illegal migrant criminals into law.