Senate set to advance Laken Riley Act to crack down on illegal immigration

WASHINGTON — The Senate is scheduled to vote Thursday to begin debate on the Laken Riley Act, a Republican-led bill aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration that has attracted significant support from Democrats.

Democrats are expected to provide enough votes to overcome the 60-vote threshold in the GOP-controlled Senate to advance the legislation. But some have suggested they want to amend the bill, so it’s unclear whether it will receive enough support for final passage.

Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., said Thursday that he will vote “to begin floor debate on the Laken Riley Act because I believe the people of Georgia want their lawmakers in Washington to address the issues in this legislation.” But he didn’t say whether he would support final passage of the bill as written.

“I look forward to continuing to discuss this bill with my colleagues, and I welcome a serious bipartisan conversation about what we need to do to fix our broken immigration system to keep Georgians safe and prevent another senseless tragedy,” Warnock said in a statement.

The openness from some Democrats to supporting the bill comes as the party recalibrates its outlook on immigration policy after getting pummeled over the issue politically. In the 2024 election, voters trusted President-elect Donald Trump over Kamala Harris to handle immigration by a margin of 9 points, NBC News exit polls found. And voters who cited immigration as a top issue backed Trump over Harris 89% to 9%, according to exit polls.

The Laken Riley Act would change federal law to require ICE, operating under the Department of Homeland Security, to issue detainers and take custody of people in the country illegally over theft-related crimes, including shoplifting. It would target people who are charged, arrested or convicted for committing an act of “burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.”

The legislation would also empower state attorneys general to sue the federal government for alleged failures of immigration enforcement “if the State or its residents experience harm, including financial harm in excess of $100.”

The bill, the first of the new Congress that was sworn in last week, was named for the 22-year-old Georgia nursing school student who was murdered in 2024 by an immigrant in the United States illegally; she would have turned 23 on Friday.

It passed the GOP-led House 264-159 earlier this week, with 48 Democrats voting for it. In the Senate, Republicans have 53 seats and — with full attendance — would need at least seven Democrats next week to ensure final passage of the legislation as written.

Some Democrats who represent competitive states or border communities have endorsed the bill outright, including Sens. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.; Mark Kelly, D-Ariz.; John Fetterman, D-Pa.; Jon Ossoff, D-Ga.; Elissa Slotkin; D-Mich., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.

“Sen. Ossoff supports the Laken Riley Act and plans to vote for it,” a spokesperson for the Georgia senator, who is up for re-election in 2026, said Thursday in a statement.

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., who faces re-election in 2026, plans to vote for the motion to proceed on Friday, according to a source familiar with his plans, but has not co-sponsored the legislation.

Democrats say they’re open to a conversation as to how to improve the bill and want the opportunity to offer up amendments, which is part of why they are willing to allow the bill to move forward.

“I think there’s an opportunity to get on the bill and try to try to amend it to be better,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who added that he has real issues with the legislation as it is currently drafted. “The underlying bill looks like a not well constructed piece of legislation. But we could potentially make it better.”

According to one Senate aide, Democrats are considering amending the language of the bill to narrow the threshold for what triggers ICE detention of an undocumented person. Currently, it covers anyone who “is charged with, is arrested for, is convicted of, admits having committed, or admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of any burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting offense.”

“Getting it to a better place, I think, to make people feel more comfortable that like this really is just going to target the people doing bad s---, and not used in a potentially nefarious way,” the aide said, while emphasizing that Democrats intend to “engage in a serious way” to improve it, not make “pie in the sky” asks.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., signaled to his conference this week that he was open to Democrats voting for the bill to proceed, a step that would allow Democrats to offer amendments, according to spokesperson.

Schumer was reacting to the growing group in his conference expressing a desire to either vote for the bill outright, or at least entertain negotiations around improving the package.

If the Senate does add amendments to the bill, it would have to go back to the House for final passage.

The Senate Democratic aide said the party has been willing to engage on tougher border laws for a while, saying, “This is where voters continue to move, and good elected officials continue to listen to them.”

Some pro-immigration advocates are calling on Democrats to amend the bill to strip out the provision empowering state attorneys general to sue the federal government, warning that it will empower bad actors.

“If they want to prove they’re serious about border security, this ain’t the bill. This is a trap,” said Kerri Talbot, executive director at the advocacy group Immigration Hub and former counsel to Senate Democrats. “All they have to do is read the bill to see it’s unconstitutional, puts long-settled immigrants at risk, and enables the Ken Paxtons of the country to target families.”

In addition to the Laken Riley Act, Republicans plan to put several immigration bills on the floor in the House and Senate in the coming weeks to appease conservatives who want to deal with the border immediately — and to force Democrats to take tough votes.

A second Democratic aide said the political dynamic on the issue is changing.

“I think for a long time Democrats have let the advocacy groups push them to the left on immigration and border security issues: pushing them to oppose even popular immigration/border security reforms because it could lead to any deportation,” the aide, who spoke candidly about the sensitive topic on condition of anonymity, wrote in a text message. “This past election showed that’s not where a majority of Americans are at, and that Dems need to be clear they are against criminals — even if that means deporting an undocumented immigrant who committed a crime.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com