Dear John,

The Laken Riley Act (H.R. 29) passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, January 7, on a vote of 264 to 159. (See the vote count in the House here: https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/20256) That legislation now moves to the U.S. Senate for a potential vote on Thursday or Friday of this week. This is a dangerous bill that manipulates a personal tragedy in an effort to criminalize and demonize immigrant communities. You can prevent this bill from being signed into law by contacting your Senators and urging them to vote “no” on H.R. 29.

The Laken Riley Act explicitly does the following:

Requires the mandatory immigration arrest and detention – without access to bail – of any undocumented person convicted of or merely arrested for burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting related offenses. There is no statute of limitations and no mechanism for the individual to contest their immigration detention in order to resolve the underlying criminal charges against them (if charges are even brought).
Provides individual States with standing – regardless of whether they have any legitimate interest or stake – to bring litigation against the federal government with regard to any allegation that the federal government is improperly implementing the detention and removal provisions of federal law, visa related provisions, or its discretionary parole authority.

In practice, the provisions of the bill also create additional harms including:

Anti-immigrant law enforcement to profile people they believe to be undocumented and arrest them for trumped up charges;
The return to retrogressive practice of detention without access to a bond or bail hearing and no mechanism for release prior to deportation;
The end of judicial discretion which allows judges to release individuals who are deemed as “no threat” to the community;
And more.

It is worth noting that these practices could actually be extended to the entire criminal legal system and not simply limited to the immigration portion of that system.

It is critical that we take action immediately by contacting our Senators and urging them to vote “no” on H.R. 29. Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and follow the prompts to speak with your Senator.

In solidarity,

Pablo Tapia