Washington, DC — As the “Laken Riley Act” moves toward a procedural vote in the Senate, key voices are highlighting how the public description of the bill and its supposed focus are dangerously mismatched to the actual legislative text.
The following is a statement from Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“Despite the name of the legislation and the messaging focus of some of its backers, the Laken Riley Act is filled with unrelated and sweeping measures that won’t improve public safety. Instead, this bill would empower state anti-immigrant zealots to take the reins of federal immigration policy while throwing our out-of-date immigration system into more chaos. Those touting this bill as a necessary policy – or political – way forward should get their facts straight and give a closer reading to the bill text and dangerous implications.”
Among the most troubling provisions of the legislation is language that would empower rabidly anti-immigrant state attorneys general to run roughshod over federal immigration policymaking – from international visa issuance to the discretionary authority of federal immigration officials:
- As policy expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council writes in a must-read MSNBC opinion column, “The House GOP’s first bill of 2025 could enable a Ken Paxton power grab”:“The Laken Riley Act would completely upend the long-standing power balance between the states and the federal government on immigration enforcement. Rather than federal supremacy, states could have the power to second-guess decisions made throughout every level of the federal government and potentially overrule the president himself … Giving a state attorney general veto power over everything from visa bans to individual release decisions made by ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers, threatens to make the entire immigration system even more chaotic than it already is.”
- And as Elvia Díaz writes in her latest Arizona Republic column, “Selling the legislation as merely deporting criminals is politically convenient. Americans will eat that up in one gulp. After all, who can possibly defend criminals? But don’t be fooled by soundbites … It’s a power grab by states to dismantle federal authority over immigration enforcement.”
- As The New Republic’s Greg Sargent writes in his latest column on the policy and political implications of the bill and debate: “It suggests that some Democrats, spooked by Trump’s comeback, have already decided there’s no percentage in even attempting to challenge anything carrying the aura of ‘toughness’ on immigration. That doesn’t bode well for their capacity to resist the terrible crackdown that’s coming, but fortunately, it’s not too late to find a better path.”
Additional Resources
- Read the new America’s Voice blog post, “The Bankrupt Politics and Policy of the Ken Paxton Empowerment Act (AKA the Laken Riley Act H.R.29/S.5)”
- Read from the National Immigration Law Center, “The NILC Opposes the Laken Riley Act”
