Local

Laken Riley Act: President Trump signs legislation into law

President Donald Trump signs Laken Riley Act into law (ABC News)
(ABC News)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump has signed the Laken Riley Act into law as his first piece of legislation during his second presidential term.

The law, named after the nursing student killed on the University of Georgia campus, would require federal officials to detain immigrants without legal status accused of theft and violent crimes.

The act also creates a provision for state and District of Columbia attorneys general to sue the federal government for decisions or alleged failures in immigration enforcement, according to the legislative text.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The law goes into effect a few weeks before Riley’s family will mark one year since her death.

On Feb. 22, 2024, Riley went for a run on UGA’s campus when police say Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who was in the U.S. illegally, killed her. In November, a Georgia judge found Ibarra guilty during his bench trial and sentenced him to life in prison without parole for Riley’s murder.

Officials had arrested Ibarra for entering the country illegally in Sept. 2022, but he was released for his case to go to immigration court. New York police arrested Ibarra in Aug. 2023 for child endangerment, but he was released again. Ibarra was also a theft suspect in Georgia in Oct. 2023, just four months before Riley’s murder.

RELATED STORIES:

Georgia U.S. Rep. Mike Collins introduced the Laken Riley Act last year and reintroduced it for the 119th Congress. It passed with bipartisan support.

“This is the right thing to do,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said after the act cleared the House. “It’s always good when the right thing is also the popular thing.”

Immigrants rights advocates have called it extreme and fear it will trigger mass roundups for offenses as minor as shoplifting.

“I think it is pivotal to understand: This bill, framed as connected to a tragic death, is pretext to fortify a mass deportation system,” said Hannah Flamm, interim senior director of policy at the International Refugee Assistance Project.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

0