In a recent development, Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington has voiced her concerns over the Laken Riley Act, a piece of legislation that she believes could potentially infringe upon the "due process" rights of illegal immigrants.
Jayapal's comments came despite the fact that these individuals have already violated the law by crossing the border without authorization.
According to the Daily Caller, the Senate has moved forward with a debate on the Laken Riley Act, a bill named after a murdered nursing student. The legislation, which passed the House with a 264-159 vote on January 7th, has been criticized by Jayapal for expanding the list of crimes that would necessitate detention, thereby creating what she referred to as a "highway of mass deportation."
Jayapal explained her stance during an interview with MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart, stating, "if an undocumented immigrant commits a horrendous act of murder, like what happened to Laken Riley, that person is immediately mandatorily detained and deported if theyre convicted of that. Now, what this bill does, as you said, is that it expands that to shoplifting and theft, and it says that there is no due process."
Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was tragically murdered while jogging in February by Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela with a significant criminal record. Ibarra was sentenced to life without parole in November after being found guilty of Riley's murder.
Jayapal further elaborated on her concerns, using a hypothetical scenario to illustrate her point. She suggested that under the proposed legislation, an individual could be accused of shoplifting, immediately arrested, and mandatorily detained without a trial or concrete evidence of their guilt.
The Laken Riley Act has seen a mixed response from Democrats, with nine Senate Democrats and one independent voting against the motion to proceed, while 48 House Democrats, including six who had previously opposed the legislation, backed the bill.
During his campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris, President-elect Donald Trump highlighted a series of crimes involving illegal immigrants, including the murders of Riley, Rachel Morin, and Jocelyn Nungaray. He also drew attention to the struggles faced by the city of Springfield, Ohio, following an influx of over 20,000 Haitian migrants.
Jayapal expressed her apprehension about the potential implications of the bill, stating, "it is essentially a highway to mass deportation, and you can have any number of people picked up and put into the criminal justice system simply for being accused, with no conviction, no admission of guilt."
Trump has made promises of a large-scale deportation effort targeting illegal immigrants during his 2024 presidential campaign. Meanwhile, officials from the Biden administration, including Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, have repeatedly asserted that the border is secure. This claim comes despite the Border Patrol encountering millions of illegal immigrants since the start of the fiscal year 2021, as reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
It's worth noting that under federal law, illegal entry into the country can result in criminal penalties. This fact underscores the ongoing debate about the balance between maintaining national security and upholding individual rights, even for those who have entered the country illegally.
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