By Aamer Madhani -
The Associated Press
The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill that would require federal authorities to detain unauthorized immigrants who have been accused of theft, while Republicans used the recent death of a nursing student in Georgia to rebuke border policies. of the president, Joe Biden, just a few hours before his State of the Union address.
After Laken Riley, 22, a nursing student at Augusta University, was killed late last month while on a morning jog, Republicans rushed the introduction of the
Laken Riley Act
in the House of Representatives to coincide with Biden's annual speech.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, holds a sign with the photo of student Laken Riley, murdered in Georgia.Mark Schiefelbein / AP
The bill easily passed 251-170, with all Republicans and 37 Democrats voting in favor.
But the nine-page bill was designed more for political flair than law, and has little chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate.
As immigration becomes a major issue in the presidential election, Republicans are using nearly every tool at their disposal — including the attempted
impeachment
of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — to condemn the way the president has managed immigration.
However, Biden has also lashed out at Republican lawmakers for rejecting a bipartisan bill last month that sought to reduce the number of illegal crossings at the U.S. border with Mexico.
“Republicans will not tolerate the release of dangerous criminals into our communities, and that is exactly what the Biden Administration has done,” Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News.
Riley's death has become an argument in favor of Donald Trump, the likely presidential candidate of the Republican Party, after authorities arrested José Ibarra, a Venezuelan who entered the United States illegally and that he was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case.
He has not yet pleaded guilty to the charges.
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that Ibarra was detained in August by the New York police and accused of acting in a manner likely to injure a minor under 17 years of age and of not having driving license.
The man was released before ICE could ask local officials to hold him until immigration authorities could process him, the agency argued.
New York authorities have stated that they have no record of the arrest.