Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (pictured above) announced ahead of the vote on Thursday that he will join several of his party's moderates in voting to proceed with the Laken Riley Act, which has become a top Republican priority. Riley, a Georgia nursing student, was killed last year by a Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case.
But Schumer hasn't promised to vote for the bill — and he made clear that Democrats will only allow it to pass if Republicans work with them on bipartisan amendments. Thursday's procedural vote will allow that process to begin.
New Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., "has said he wants to make the Senate a place where all members should have a chance to make their voices heard," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "This bill would be a fine place to start."
Schumer's support for the bill comes after Democrats lost the Senate and the presidency in the November elections and are trying to thoughtfully pick their battles against Trump while also trying to block much of his agenda. Republicans will need seven Democratic votes to pass most major policy items in the 53-47 Senate, and Schumer has maintained that Thune will have to work with them to get things done.
The House passed the legislation earlier this week, making the legislation one of the first actions in the newly Republican-controlled Congress. It would require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to arrest unauthorized migrants who commit theft, burglary, larceny, or shoplifting offenses and mandate that they are detained until they are removed from the U.S.
The bill also would allow states to sue the federal government if they can demonstrate harm caused by immigrants who enter the country illegally.
The House passed the bill last year, but Schumer did not bring it up for a vote when Democrats were in the majority.
