[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 46 (Thursday, March 14, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2379-S2381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 7511

  Mr. BUDD. Mr. President, there have been more than 9 million illegal 
alien border crossings on President Biden's watch. At the same time, 
there has been a 57-percent decrease in arrests of criminal illegal 
aliens and a 67-percent decrease in deportation of criminal aliens.
  This complete lack of enforcement of existing law has caused 
unimaginable human suffering across our country. One such tragedy 
occurred last month in Athens, GA. An illegal alien from Venezuela 
brutally murdered 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley on the campus 
of the University of Georgia. What makes this story all the more 
devastating was that the killer could have been stopped but wasn't.
  So how on Earth was this tragedy even allowed to take place? Well, 
here is the timeline. The killer illegally entered the United States in 
September of 2022 in El Paso, TX. He was caught, but then he was 
paroled into the country. He then made his way to New York City, where 
he was arrested for child endangerment in 2023, but then he was 
released. He then fled to Georgia, where he committed several petty 
crimes like theft and shoplifting. He was not detained by ICE. Then 
came the tragedy of February 22, where he preyed on an innocent young 
woman jogging around a university campus.
  This was allowed to take place because of the open border policies of 
President Biden. It took place because executive Agencies are given 
discretion to determine what crimes trigger a detainer to be issued to 
take an illegal alien into custody. The ``discretion loophole'' has got 
to be closed. And that is why we are here today: to make sure these 
tragedies never happen again.
  In Laken's honor, Senator Katie Britt of Alabama and I have teamed up 
to introduce the Laken Riley Act. This bill would require ICE to issue 
detainers and take into custody illegal aliens who commit crimes like 
theft and shoplifting. The legislation also empowers state attorneys 
general to sue the Secretary of Homeland Security for taking actions on 
immigration that harm their States or their citizens.
  The bottom line: If this bill were in place before February 22, Laken 
Riley would be alive today.
  The House of Representatives passed this bill last week in a 
bipartisan--again, a bipartisan--vote of 251 to 70, including 37 
Democrats. In a time of division and polarization, the Laken Riley Act 
brought both sides together.
  It is our hope that we can learn from this horrific situation and 
make some positive change. So let's pass the Laken Riley Act today.
  Mr. President, I would like to yield to my colleague from Indiana.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Indiana.
  Mr. BRAUN. Mr. President, on February 22, a 22-year-old nursing 
student

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named Laken Riley went for a morning run on a popular trail. Despite 
doing everything right--informing her friends of her expected return 
time and sharing her location with them--Laken never made it home. Her 
life was stolen by an illegal alien who should have never been in the 
country.
  The President's open border policies are solely behind it. Remember, 
before he came in, we were at record lows. Now, we are at record highs. 
We are even talking about categories we didn't have before, like ``got-
aways.'' It is a national security risk that has come into this country 
when, currently, monthly, 50,000 to 60,000 people never confront the 
Border Patrol--not to mention the 200,000 to 300,000 who do.
  This individual had been arrested in New York for a felony. The loss 
of Laken Riley was an avoidable tragedy inflicted by President Biden 
and his policies. These policies allow illegal aliens like Laken 
Riley's killer to roam free even after committing crimes.
  The Laken Riley Act demands the immediate deportation of illegal 
aliens when they are arrested for a crime. It makes sense.
  For those with concerns about due process, remember, we are talking 
about individuals with zero legal right to be in the United States in 
the first place. Retainers for ICE deportation should already be issued 
in these cases but aren't, in many cases, due to sanctuary city status.
  We should honor Laken Riley's memory by assuring that no other family 
ever has to endure this heartache.
  Pass the Laken Riley Act.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. BUDD. Mr. President, I would like to further yield to my 
colleague from Kansas.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, I would like to start by thanking 
Senator Budd for leading this very important issue to the Senate floor.
  We rise today to honor and pay our respects to the late Laken Riley 
and her family and to mourn with her family.
  Today, we call on this Chamber to come together to ensure this never 
happens again.
  Laken Hope Riley. Laken Hope Riley was a beautiful young woman in the 
prime of her life. She was brutally murdered in broad daylight while 
jogging on the University of Georgia's campus.
  Her alleged murderer, a Venezuelan illegal alien, was one of 2 
million people paroled by Joe Biden--one of 2 million. Ironically, he 
was welcomed here on United States soil by this President and his 
egregious open border policies.
  He was stopped by the U.S. Border Patrol in 2022 when he crossed into 
Texas illegally, but because of the Biden administration's unlawful 
mass parole of illegal aliens, he was permitted into our country. From 
Texas, he moved to New York, where he was arrested by the New York 
Police Department last year for acting in a manner to injure a child 
and for a motor vehicle violation. But he was quickly released and 
never turned over to ICE for deportation. Instead, he was released by 
police before a detainer could ever be issued by DHS, and he was 
allowed to roam freely.
  Then he journeyed on to Athens, GA. And now we understand that the 
alleged assailant was a member of a violent Venezuelan gang.
  How can we ever identify who those people are when 10,000 people are 
crossing our border every day? How can the Border Patrol possibly vet 
these people in a proper manner?
  Just like so many other unvetted migrants living in the country right 
now, this man was handed the American dream--the American dream that 
Laken Riley should be living right now.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. BUDD. Mr. President, it is for the reasons articulated by my 
friend and colleague from Kansas and my friend and colleague from 
Indiana that, as in legislative session, I ask unanimous consent that 
the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 341, 
H.R. 7511; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed; 
and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The majority whip.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, the death 
of Laken Riley was a horrible crime--horrible crime--and a 
heartbreaking loss. This 22-year-old American nursing student at 
Augusta University in Georgia, I am certain, would have made America a 
better place with her life and contribution to our country. But, 
instead, she was taken from us on February 22, 2024.
  A suspect has been arrested and may, ultimately, be tried for this 
crime. That is as it should be. That is how we follow the law in the 
United States.
  But when you look at the request before us, it gives me pause. We can 
all agree that noncitizens who are convicted of violent crimes should 
be detained and removed from the United States. Sadly, the measure 
before us does nothing to address this issue.
  Under current law in the United States of America, noncitizens who 
enter the country illegally, violate the terms of their status, or have 
their visas revoked can be detained by officials from Immigration and 
Customs Enforcement--better known as ICE--as they should be. Current 
law also requires the detention of individuals with serious criminal 
convictions and those who have committed murder, rape, or any--any--
crime of violence or theft offense with a term of imprisonment of at 
least 1 year, as they should be.
  The law also gives ICE the discretion to detain or release a 
noncitizen in any case where a noncitizen has been charged with a 
crime, as they should be. To make this decision, ICE must assess the 
individual circumstances of the case and ensure the Agency's limited 
resources are used effectively to focus on protecting our national 
security and public safety, as they should be.
  Remember, the vast majority of Republicans, including the sponsors of 
this measure, recently blocked a national security supplemental bill 
that would have given ICE more funding to detain undocumented 
immigrants who might pose a threat to our country.
  The sweeping approach in the bill before us would eliminate the 
Agency's discretion to prioritize the most dangerous individuals and 
require ICE to treat those arrested for shoplifting the same as those 
convicted of violent crimes. Let me repeat that--require ICE to treat 
those arrested for shoplifting the same as those convicted of violent 
crimes. This would overwhelm ICE's capacity and facilities and make our 
Nation less, not more, safe.
  For example, this proposal before us would require ICE to detain 
every immigrant who is arrested for shoplifting, even if the charges 
are ultimately dropped and don't lead to a conviction. Remember, this 
bill does not require a charge or a conviction. Tell me, does it make 
sense to treat a noncitizen arrested for shoplifting the same as 
someone convicted of murder? I think we all know the answer to that 
question.
  This bill goes into another area which hasn't been discussed much--
which is hard to imagine--but this bill would grant State attorneys 
general the standing to sue Federal immigration authorities if a State 
disagrees with immigration enforcement decisions made by the Federal 
Government. I think, on its face, it is unconstitutional.
  For example, this bill would give a State attorney general the 
standing to challenge the use of parole authority--for example, like 
Uniting for Ukraine, which allowed Ukrainians to flee Putin's war to 
come to the United States--if a State can prove it had an impact of 
$100 for the Federal Government to make that decision.
  Laken Riley's murder was a tragedy. We must do everything we can to 
prevent crimes like this from happening. But this legislation would 
make our system less safe.
  The reality is that most immigrants in the United States are law-
abiding individuals who are seeking a better life in this country. Many 
studies have shown that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes 
than U.S. citizens.
  Mr. President, you know personally from your own experience in 
Congress that it has been more than 30 years

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since we have seriously considered an immigration reform bill. We had a 
chance, didn't we, just a few weeks ago? There was a bipartisan group--
and the White House was part of it--that wanted to sit down and change 
the immigration and border security laws of the United States.
  The Republican effort in this regard was led by James Lankford, a 
conservative, respected Republican from Oklahoma, and on our side, 
Senators Murphy and Sinema, who negotiated for weeks, week after week, 
to come up with a proposal. The notion was to finally address the 
border security of the United States in a comprehensive, bipartisan, 
realistic way. It was controversial. There were some parts of it that I 
didn't care for at all. But I thought this was a good-faith, bipartisan 
effort.
  We were assured that because the Republican Senators had chosen 
Senator Lankford as their negotiator, that it at least would entertain 
some support on the Republican side. We called the measure on the 
floor, and it failed because the Republicans would not join the 
Democrats in engaging in this bipartisan effort.
  The issues raised this morning by Senator Budd could have been 
resolved, perhaps, if we would have had that kind of bipartisan 
negotiation, but it didn't happen.
  I had my concerns about the deal, but it certainly should have moved 
forward.
  When it came to a vote, the vast majority of Republicans opposed it 
at the request of former President Donald Trump, who urged a ``no'' 
vote, who wanted the measure to stop and not be considered and moved 
forward and said:

       Go ahead and blame me for it.

  Well, I am blaming you for it, and I am blaming those who stepped 
away from this bipartisan opportunity.
  Donald Trump has made clear that he does not want a solution to our 
challenges at the border; he wants an issue for the November election. 
So we stepped away from it--the only realistic chance to have a 
bipartisan solution.
  I urge my colleagues to reject Donald Trump's advice. Let's get back 
to the table. Let's consider the issues raised by the Senator this 
morning and other issues that are important and make a bipartisan 
decision to move forward to solve this problem.
  I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. BUDD. Mr. President, I am deeply disappointed in my Democratic 
colleagues for objecting to a bill that, had it been in place, Laken 
Riley's life would have been spared. The Democratic Party's commitment 
to open borders is causing otherwise preventable tragedies to occur 
again and again and again.
  But while we are here, let me address some of the counterarguments 
that we have heard.
  One contention is that this bill would apply to individuals merely 
accused of a crime, robbing them of due process. Well, the fact that 
illegal aliens are freely roaming around the country in and of itself 
is illegal. If they then commit another crime, authorities are well 
within their rights to detain them.
  The law that this bill would strengthen already requires detention 
for those who have been involved in various acts, such as drug 
trafficking, prostitution, and other vices, regardless of whether or 
not they have been convicted.
  Opponents of this bill don't just have a problem with this bill; they 
have a problem with well-established laws on the books.
  Another argument that I have heard is that this bill would violate 
the Constitution's standing requirements to file lawsuits.
  The Supreme Court in the United States v. Texas provided a clear 
roadmap for Congress to authorize lawsuits against the executive branch 
for failing to enforce the law. The bill follows that roadmap and 
upholds the Constitution's separation of powers.
  The bill authorizes a state attorney general or other authorized 
officer to bring a lawsuit against executive branch officials for 
failure to enforce immigration laws in a manner that harms such State 
or its residents. The bill authorizes a Federal court to grant 
appropriate injunctive relief. This bill does not prejudge the result 
of any case or tie a judge's hands. The bill simply ensures that States 
are given their day in court to protect their citizens against the 
harmful, lawless, open border policies of the Biden administration.
  I simply don't believe that another American family needs to 
experience a tragedy like the one that befell the Riley family. I am 
going to continue to work with my colleague from Alabama, Senator 
Britt, and all my colleagues to push this legislation until it passes 
this Chamber.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.