President Donald Trump is about to sign his first immigration bill, a measure that will make it easier for federal immigration officials to detain and deport people without legal status who are accused of crimes such as petty theft and assaulting law enforcement.

The bill, known as the Laken Riley Act, passed 263 to 156 with the support of 46 Democrats. The vote marked a major shift for many in the party. Democrats broadly rejected the bill multiple times last year, but the political sentiment behind the bill changed after the election.

The Laken Riley Act underscores Washington's broader focus on immigration and border security after Trump made immigration and border security a central pillar of his successful presidential campaign.

The measure directs federal immigration enforcement to detain and deport people without legal status charged with petty theft or shoplifting.

The Senate, which passed the bill 64-35 last week, also added an amendment to expand the measure to include crimes that result in death or serious bodily injury or assault on a law enforcement officer.

Some Criminal offenses can already be grounds Deportation. But critics of the measure argue the proposal skips the current practice of waiting until someone has been convicted of a crime before considering deportation proceedings.

“This is just a microcosm of the impact of anti-immigrant rhetoric that criminalizes immigrants, even though the statistics don’t show that,” said Marielena Hincapié, distinguished visiting scholar on immigration at Cornell Law School. “Democrats and Republicans alike are concerned about this statements and election results.”

The bill is named after a Georgia nursing student who was killed in the United States last year by a Venezuelan man without legal status. Her death became a rallying cry for Republicans early last year in criticizing the Biden administration's approach to border security. man, José Ibarra, later sentenced Life in prison without the possibility of parole. He had previously been charged with shoplifting in New York; Republicans argued the law would have allowed him to be deported earlier and prevented Riley's murder.

However, Research shows Immigrants commit fewer crimes than people born in the United States, Hincapie said, adding that the bill also promotes a false connection between crime and immigration or legal status.

political change

Senate bipartisan vote - with 12 Democrats joins all Republicans — marking a sharp shift in the recent immigration debate on Capitol Hill.

When Republicans first introduced the bill last year, most Democrats dismissed it as a political messaging effort.

Then-Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other Democratic leaders instead focused their efforts on a bipartisan-negotiated comprehensive border security deal. a small group of senators Last year, security and law enforcement measures were combined with broader authorizations for those in the U.S. without legal status.

But after Trump won the election and swept battleground states including Pennsylvania, Democrats quickly moved to the right on the issue. Democratic Senator John Fetterman Co-sponsored this Senate measure. Democratic senators from Georgia and Arizona also expressed support.

Most Democrats opposed the measure on the vote.

“This bill will fail to achieve its stated goals,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said after the Senate passed it. “I am deeply disappointed that this bill has passed and deeply concerned about how it will be implemented.”

Still, many Democrats say they are open to tougher immigration measures, creating an opportunity for Republicans to capitalize on support.

A three-game winning streak for Republicans in Washington, with the party now controlling both chambers of Congress and the White House, means Republican leaders are likely to use the pattern to push for more border security-related bills.

ICE asks for more funds

The bill will soon become law, but the federal agency responsible for enforcing it has concerns. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is one of the federal law enforcement agencies responsible for deportations.

At the beginning of this month, ICE sends memo to lawmakers The warning said implementation of the bill was "impossible to implement with existing resources". The agency said it will spend $26 billion in the first year on personnel costs, increased detention resources, transportation and more.

The agency also warned in a December memo that they would need more ICE officers and expected to face obstacles with local jurisdictions, such as potential lack of cooperation from state and local law enforcement. It also made clear there may be a lack of detention space to accommodate offenders.

“If supplemental funding is not received and ICE maintains its current bed capacity,

The agency does not have enough detention capacity to accommodate the people in sight

Arrest and detain non-citizens convicted of or charged with property crimes," the December memo states. "(Enforcement and deportation operations) are expected to require the release of tens of thousands of non-citizens by the end of the fiscal year and may was released as a public safety threat. "

Jason Houser, a former ICE chief of staff, said he was frustrated by the prospect of spending billions on enforcing the bill rather than generally increasing the department’s resources.

"This bill creates an artificial need for detention beds while doing nothing to address the surge at the border or increase security," Houser told reporters at a news conference last week.

Immigrant rights advocates worry the measure also blurs the lines between different law enforcement agencies and legal processes. The measure would direct ICE to oversee the detention of those charged, arrested or convicted of burglary, theft, theft or shoplifting. They may even be deported without going through the court system.

“What’s dangerous about this bill is that it strips away some of the fundamental due process principles in our legal system,” Hincapie said. “Even if people are arrested for a crime, DHS can detain and deport them even if they have never been convicted of a crime.”