US Senate passes migrant detention bill hours after Trump sworn in

The Senate has passed legislation requiring the detention of undocumented immigrants charged with theft-related crimes, with the chamber approving its first bill of the new Congress just hours after Donald Trump took the oath of office.

The vote was 64 to 35, as a dozen Democrats joined every present Republican in supporting the Laken Riley Act, named after a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was murdered last year by a Venezuelan national.

The measure now goes to the House, which passed a slightly different version earlier this month. If the House approves the bill, as expected, it will next go to the president’s desk for his signature, giving Trump the first legislative victory of his second term.

Under the bill, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) would be required to detain undocumented immigrants charged with crimes such as “burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting”. It would also allow state attorneys general to sue the federal government if they believed their states had been harmed by its failure to enforce immigration laws.

Immigrant rights groups and legal experts have raised concerns that the bill, if enacted, would infringe on individuals’ right to due process and could undermine federal authority to enforce immigration law. Progressives have condemned Democrats for helping deliver Trump a swift legislative victory.

“Spineless. That’s the only word for the 10 Senate Democrats who handed Maga Republicans a gift they didn’t deserve,” Sarah Dohl, chief campaigns officer of the progressive group Indivisible, said last week.

“The Laken Riley Act is a racist, xenophobic attack on immigrants that shreds constitutional rights and hands power to extremists like [Texas attorney general] Ken Paxton to hijack federal immigration policy. It’s not just cruel – it’s a train wreck of chaos and bad faith. And yet, Senate Democrats caved.”

The vote reflects a sharp shift in strategy for Democrats, particularly from Trump’s first term, when they vociferously and often unilaterally opposed all aspects of his immigration agenda. Their defeats in the 2024 election have pushed some in the party to the right on an issue that was the centerpiece of Trump’s campaign and a major issue for voters.

In another sign of the party’s shifting views on immigration, 48 House Democrats supported the Laken Riley Act when it came up for a vote in the lower chamber earlier this month. The Senate-approved version of the bill is expected to attract similar levels of support from House Democrats, probably ensuring its final passage.

Trump’s signing of the Laken Riley Act would represent only one piece of a sweeping anti-immigration agenda that he began to enact immediately after taking the oath of office on Monday.

Among other measures, Trump declared a national emergency at the US-Mexico border, even as illegal crossings have hit their lowest levels in five years. The new president is also attempting to end birthright citizenship, a policy that civil rights groups blasted as blatantly unconsitutional as they prepared legal challenges to the maneuvers.

The Trump administration has already ended use of the CBP One, an app that allowed migrants seeking entry into the US to schedule an appointment at a port of entry. The Customs and Border Protection website now states: “Effective January 20, 2025, the functionalities of CBP One™ that previously allowed undocumented aliens to submit advance information and schedule appointments at eight southwest border ports of entry is no longer available, and existing appointments have been cancelled.”

News of the apps closure stunned those who had appointments that were now canceled. A Washington Post reporter captured scenes of despair in Ciudad Juárez, which is located just on the Mexican side of the border, across from El Paso, Texas.