By: Tábano 84 ~ Thursday January 16, 2025
The bill known as Laken Riley, currently being debated in the United States Senate, is emerging as the first immigration legislation that Donald Trump could sign in his second term, which will begin on January 20. This project not only has the potential to usher in a new era in the country’s immigration policy, but could also launch a series of controversial changes in the treatment of migrants.
The Laken Riley Act, already approved in the House of Representatives with 264 votes in favor (including the support of all Republicans and 48 Democrats), seeks to give immigration authorities greater powers to detain undocumented foreigners accused or suspected of having committed crimes related to robberies, without there being a judicial conviction to support these accusations. If approved in the Senate, this law would be an important step in Trump’s promises to implement a tougher immigration policy, especially when it comes to migrants with criminal records.
📌Learn what the Laken Riley bill is about, which targets undocumented immigrants who have committed non-violent crimes for deportation.
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The measure has generated great controversy, especially among migrant rights advocates, who argue that this legislation violates the presumption of innocence, a fundamental principle of the US judicial system. According to these critics, the law would open the doors to arbitrary and indiscriminate detentions of migrants, without their guilt having been proven in court. Additionally, this law would allow states to sue the federal government if migrants are proven to have caused harm by entering the country through unauthorized routes.
One of the most controversial points of the law is that it would force the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain all migrants in an irregular situation, without the need for their guilt in any crime to have been proven. This approach has been championed by the Trump administration as a way to ensure that migrants with criminal records are quickly deported, which aligns with the president’s promises to carry out the largest deportation in US history. However, this policy has been criticized by those who argue that it violates key constitutional rights, such as the presumption of innocence, and could create an atmosphere of fear among the migrant community.
From the perspective of migrant advocates, the Laken Riley Act could mean a setback in the country’s criminal and immigration justice. The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) has noted that if the law is passed, it could create widespread chaos in the courts and hamper prosecutors’ ability to properly prosecute cases. In addition, there are fears that the law could lead to greater criminalization of migrants, without giving them the same opportunities for defense as US citizens.
The debate over this law, which promises to be one of the key issues at the beginning of Trump’s second term, is far from resolved. As the US Senate moves forward with its discussion of the Laken Riley Act, the future of the country’s immigration policy appears to be taking an uncertain path, with profound implications for millions of migrants living in the United States. How this bill will be received could be an indication of the tone the Trump administration will take on immigration in the coming years.
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