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Republicans in Congress campaigned on border security last year.
So it should come as no surprise that their initial legislative action in 2025 focused on illegal immigration and toughening the border.
It’s debatable whether Republicans in Congress appropriated the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley for political gain. Riley, 22, went for a run last February and never returned. Jose Antonio Ybarra killed Riley. He entered the country illegally from Venezuela.
“He hit her on the head with a stone. This is one of the most horrific crimes imaginable. People need to know what this animal did to her,” said Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., the lead sponsor of the immigration bill. .
Senate Democrats Join Republicans to Repeal Laken Riley’s Illegal Immigration Law
Jose Ibarra was found guilty of 10 counts in the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. (Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool)
Republicans seized on the episode. Right, the Laken Riley case symbolized everything that was wrong with the border and the Biden administration. Days after Riley’s death last year, the House passed the Laken Riley Act. The bill would require federal detention of any illegal arrest in the country for theft or burglary. Republicans argued that Riley would be with us today if there had been a policy to take Ybarra away.
It will take months for Republicans in Congress to negotiate President-elect Donald Trump’s demand for a combined “big, beautiful bill” on tax policy, federal spending and immigration. Speaker of the chamber Mike JohnsonR-La., says the goal is to pass that reconciliation package in early April.
Getting the border security package approved would be difficult enough on its own — not to mention the cost. So congressional Republicans are targeting the low-hanging fruit. So the GOP turned to an old standby as its primary legislative effort for the new year: the Laken Riley Act.
Progressive Democrats lashed out, accusing Republicans of race-baiting.
“This is just an attempt to score cheap political points on a tragic death,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, said during the debate. “This is the Republican playbook over and over again. Scare people about immigrants.”
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Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington, accused Republicans of trying to “score cheap political points” by naming their anti-illegal immigration bill after Laken Riley. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Their bill today is an empty and opportunistic measure,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, R-Maryland, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. “Choose a crime. Insert into it a template immigration law that covers convicted felons, and then require the detention or deportation of certain individuals simply accused of a crime or arrested for a crime.”
“It’s abundantly clear that House Republicans are going to advance an anti-immigrant agenda,” said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif. “I personally voted against it because it would open the way for people with DACA to be deported, even if they are close to someone who committed a crime.”
Republicans clapped back.
“I ask my colleagues in the Democratic Party, how many more laws with names attached to them do we need to pass before you take this crisis seriously?” asked Rep. Tom McClintock, D-Calif., during a House debate.
Most of Democratic criticism came from the left wing of the party and a progressive.
But the Democratic Party is evolving. Practicality when it comes to border security, immigration and how the party largely ignored the issue in the last election. And probably paid the price.
LEKEN RILEY ACT GOES TO HOUSE WITH 48 DEMS, ALL REPUBLICANS
Thirty-seven House Democrats voted in favor of the Laken Riley Act when the House passed the original version of the bill last year. That number grew to 48 Democrats this week when the House approved the Laken Riley Act of 2025 on the first vote in the 2025 Legislature.
An examination of the voting matrix shows how dozens of moderate Democrats or those representing swing districts voted yes. Six Democrats who voted against last year voted yes this time.
These include Reps. Brandon Boyle, R-Pennsylvania, Val Hoyle, D-Oregon, Lucy McBath, D-Georgia, Joe Morrell, R-N.Y., Richie Torres, R-N.Y., and Terri Sewell, R-Gor. Alas.
“I am concerned about what happened to Miss Riley.” said Morel, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee. “I want to make sure this doesn’t happen to other people.”
Other “yes” votes came from longtime conservative Democrats such as Rep. Henry Cuehler, D-Tex. He represents the border area. Asked why he voted yes, Kuehler said, “It’s easy. We’re not going to welcome people who break the law.”
Other moderates representing swing districts who voted yes included Reps. Angie Craig, R-Minn., Don Davis, R-Calif., Jared Golden, R-Maine, and Marie Glusenkamp Perez, R-Wash.
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Representative Henry Cuellar, R-Texas, speaks during a press conference on the rising suicide rate among the U.S. Border Patrol, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Maryam Zuhaib)
So the Democrats got religion after the election?
“There’s been criticism that Democrats aren’t taking immigration seriously,” asked your House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, DN.Y. “Was there regret and that’s why some of these votes changed?”
Jeffries attributed this to the addition of new members Democratic caucus.
“My understanding is that there were about eight to ten additional Democratic votes this year compared to last year. There are 30 new members of the House Democratic Caucus,” Jeffries said.
But even though the bill passed the House, there’s always the Senate. And the Senate never took up Laken Riley’s legislation last year.
“The Senate,” Collins lamented. “(The bill) got bogged down and didn’t appear anywhere. He fell into the black hole of the Senate. Like most of our legislation that we sent there.”
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Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, said the desire for a secure border is not “xenophobic.” (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
But Republicans now control the Senate. Not the Democrats. New Senate Majority Leader John Thune, RS.D., made sure his body also made the Laken Riley Act its primary focus for the 2025 start.
“Last year, Senate Democrats unequivocally opposed (the Laken Riley Act) despite the fact that the bill had bipartisan support in the House,” Thune said. “We’ll see what they do when the new majority in the Senate brings it up for a vote.”
Sen. John Fettermanthe state of Pennsylvania, often at odds with its own party, quickly signed the Laken Riley Act.
“Wanting a secure border is not xenophobia,” Fetterman said. “It’s not xenophobia if you don’t want people with criminal records who actively break the law to stay in the country.”
Fetterman brushed aside liberal concerns about violating the civil rights of undocumented individuals who may be detained.
“If they’re here,” Fetterman said, “they’re technically already breaking the law.”
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A slate of other Democrats also quickly signed on to support the measure.
Among them was Sen. Ruben Gallego, R-Ariz., a freshman representing the border state on the battlefield. He claims that the Democrats botched the border security issue in the election.
“All together there was inaction. It certainly cost the Democratic Party. And I would say, potentially, to the White House,” Gallego said. “I think we should learn from this.”
Today, the Senate votes to break the gun to begin debate on the Laken Riley Act. It will be adopted next week if it clears that procedural hurdle today.
Republicans are proposing other border security/immigration bills in the next few months. Watch to see if the Democrats join them. The lesson learned from the Laken Riley Act is that Democrats representing a competitive field believe the party got it wrong when it came to border security. They try to inoculate themselves from this question. And even if it’s not all Democrats, it marks a different approach for the party at the border compared to last year.
