Addressing Illegal Immigration Crisis Is Republicans’ Top Priority
By Sen. John Thune
During the Biden administration, more than 10 million illegal immigrants entered the United States. That’s more people than the population of most states. This crisis has affected both border communities and places far from the border, including places like South Dakota. And we’ve all heard the tragic stories of Americans killed by illegal immigrants who should have never been in our country in the first place.
One of those tragedies happened last year in Athens, Georgia. Last February, nursing student Laken Riley was murdered while she was out for a morning run on the Athens campus of the University of Georgia. The man who killed her was an illegal immigrant. Like many illegal immigrants encountered at the border during the Biden administration, Laken’s killer was released into the interior of the United States on parole.
He made his way to New York City, where he was arrested for a crime. But he was released before a detainer could be issued for him to be turned over to immigration authorities. Then, he made his way to Athens, Georgia, where he was cited for shoplifting and, once again, released.
This individual should not have been in our country in the first place, and he definitely should not have been on the streets after previously being involved in two crimes. But he was. So he was free on the University of Georgia campus on that February morning when Laken Riley went running.
Shortly after this tragedy, my colleagues Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) introduced the Laken Riley Act. It’s a simple bill that would require an illegal immigrant who has been charged with a theft-related crime to be detained by immigration authorities. It’s a commonsense and straightforward measure aimed at preventing a similar tragedy from befalling another family.
Laken Riley’s murder was preventable. The man who killed her should not have been on the streets, he should have been detained long before he had the chance to kill Laken Riley. If this had been the law when her killer was arrested in 2023, she might be alive today. This is not a comprehensive bill, there is a lot more work to do to fix the border crisis, but this is an important step to keeping criminal illegal immigrants off the streets.
The Laken Riley Act was the first bill that the Republican majorities in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate brought up this year. Resolving the Biden border crisis and the chaos it has brought to communities across the country is a top priority for this Congress. We and President Trump have a lot of work to do to restore order from the chaos of the last four years, and this is just the start.