House and Senate Republicans eagerly sought to pass anti-immigrant legislation at the start of 2025 before Donald Trump was sworn into office. Reviving a bad bill introduced last year meant to jumpstart mass roundups and detentions, further scapegoat immigrants, and empower zealous Attorneys General adding to the chaos of an outdated system. The legislation isn’t, despite what supporters claim, about protecting women or keeping the American people safe. Instead, its passage only serves to reinforce the radical right’s xenophobic political narrative and helps drive the mass deportation agenda that will be disastrous for American working families regardless of immigration status.
While the title of their bill is named for Laken Riley, who was brutally murdered by an undocumented immigrant, in reality, the legislation should be called, The Ken Paxton Empowerment Act, because it gives enormous power to Paxton and his fellow radical anti-immigrant Attorneys General. This week, the House took the first step by passing its first bill by a margin of 264-159 with 48 Democratic votes.
The Ken Paxton Empowerment Act, is unquestionably bad policy, but support for the legislation is much more of a political question than one of policy. But here, too, support for the act misses a political opportunity to draw a contrast instead of walking into a political trap. Support misses the chance to name the hypocrisy, the radical policy shifts, or to chart the necessary reforms to modernize our immigration system for the 21st century.
First, and most importantly, despite the incendiary comments of bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) that, “These criminals are getting bolder and bolder while our communities become more unsafe,” this legislation isn’t really about crime. It’s about targeting immigrants. Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) did a thread on Bluesky that deconstructs the GOP’s talking points and explains the real world ramifications. Similarly, Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-TX) produced a short video on the bill and her decision to vote no on the act that is worth a watch.
As a rule, Republicans on Capitol Hill don’t really care when there are mass shootings that kill a lot of their constituents, including schoolchildren. But, if an undocumented immigrant is involved, they spring into action. Yes, the same elected officials who vigorously deride the politicization of mass shootings are quick to politicize any crime involving an undocumented immigrant (and, as we saw with the recent New Orleans attack, blame migrants even when the perpetrator is an American-born, Texas resident Army vet.)
On that note, the GOP concern about victims of violence is situational. On March 17, 2021, the day after another horrific crime in Georgia, a mass shooting that resulted in the deaths of seven women and one man, 172 House Republicans voted against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA.)
Despite the rhetoric, there has not been an immigrant crime wave, and research shows that immigrants are far less likely than U.S.-born citizens to commit crimes. The crime rate in the U.S. has plummeted since the height of the pandemic. This happened even as there was an increase in migration.
Instead, this legislation is part of the right’s effort to sell the horrors of “bloody” mass deportation to the American people. Moreover, the promise to on day-one remove the standing enforcement priorities that focus resources and efforts on those immigrants who do present a threat to public safety belies any of the rhetoric about focusing on dangerous criminals.
And let’s be clear, some immigrants have committed violent crimes and no one is arguing they shouldn’t be held accountable or dealt with in the criminal justice system. But, the House and Senate are trying to blame all immigrants for any heinous act committed by any migrant. (This, of course, is never the case for mass shooters.)
What should be alarming and raise more concerns is how Republicans are using this tragedy to dramatically expand the powers of the likes of impeached Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Aaron Reichlin-Melkin, Senior Fellow at the American Immigration Council, wrote on Bluesky:
“…if the Laken Riley Act passes, Ken Paxton or [Missouri AG] Andrew Bailey could go to a federal judge to get a court order requiring the State Department to stop issuing *all* visas to Indian and Chinese nationals.
It could cause diplomatic chaos with huge international ramifications.”
How would this work? Because the INA says that if a country refuses to accept a national being deported there, the Attorney General can tell the Secretary of State to stop issuing all immigrant and/or nonimmigrant visas.
The Laken Riley Act creates state enforcement via the federal courts for this.
Not surprisingly, this raises very serious constitutional questions; you could have Ken Paxton going to Texas Judge Reed O’Connor and seeking an order directing the Federal Government to cease issuing any visas to people from India, which would have profound foreign relations impact.
That’s not hyperbolic.
Paxton has been the main purveyor of what we call “The Anti-immigrant Judicial Pipeline.” He’s already been directing federal policy through his judge shopping. Now, Congress is giving him a green light to take over more aspects.
In the zeal to pass this bill, this aspect of the legislation has not been widely discussed on Capitol Hill or in the media. Instead, Democrats like Senator John Fetterman (whose wife was undocumented) toe the GOP’s anti-immigrant line, saying, “I support giving authorities the tools to prevent tragedies like this one while we work on comprehensive solutions to our broken system.”
We’re not sure who the “we” is who is going to work with him on solutions, but it’s hard to envision anyone in either the House or Senate Republican caucuses.
One thing we do know, this legislation isn’t a solution. It will cause more problems and make the “broken system” Fetterman bemoaned even worse. As AV’s Vanessa Cárdenas said, “This bill would empower state anti-immigrant zealots, like Ken Paxton and Kris Kobach, to overturn longstanding precedent by allowing state attorneys general to take the reins of federal immigration policy and throw our out-of-date immigration system into more chaos. This legislation is not about making the American people more safe; it’s about further demonizing immigrants for political purposes.”
For their part, Democrats are not putting up a fight for common sense reform. Worse, their support for the legislation reinforces the political attack waged against them. Democratic support for the Ken Paxton Empowerment Act will not insulate them from future nativist attacks. Republican operatives won’t hold their fire. They will see an unmitigated victory and press harder to advance their extreme, radical, and cruel agenda. The result will not be future negotiations but more extreme demands.
Nor are Democrats providing a contrast – a different story for the American people that speaks to the real anxieties about personal and community safety. Americans want criminals to be held accountable and are justified in their desire to feel safe. However, rounding up and detaining our immigrant neighbors will not make us safer nor alleviate those fears. If the American people are only presented with one story, particularly if that story is a nativist lie, predictably, only a worse set of political and policy outcomes will follow.
