Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-01) voted for the Laken Riley Act, requiring Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal immigrants who commit theft, assault on law enforcement, or violent crimes causing death or serious harm. The bill already passed the Senate and is now on its way to the president’s desk. 

“What happened to Laken Riley is heartbreaking – this could have happened to anyone in Virginia’s First District,” said Congressman Wittman. “No family should ever have to go through what Laken’s has endured. I’m proud to have voted for this bipartisan legislation, which will make a significant impact not only for our nation’s border security, but also for the safety and security of men, women, and families across the country.”

The legislation protects American communities from criminal illegal immigrants by requiring ICE to issue detainers and take custody of illegal immigrants who commit theft offenses, assault of a law enforcement officer, and crimes resulting in death or serious bodily injury to another individual. ICE would utilize the existing definitions of these acts in the criminal codes of the state or local jurisdiction in which they took place. It also allows state attorneys general to sue the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security for injunctive relief if immigration actions such as parole, violation of detention requirements, or other policy failures harm that state or its citizens.

Background:

In February 2024, Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was murdered by Jose Ibarra, an illegal immigrant released into the United States by the Biden-Harris administration, a flagrant violation of the parole and detention requirements in federal immigration law. Months before murdering Riley, Ibarra was arrested for theft. However, local authorities in Georgia released him, and ICE did not lodge a detainer. Through a detainer, ICE requests cooperation from local law enforcement to ensure that ICE can take custody of the illegal immigrant when they are released by local authorities.

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