WASHINGTON — The House on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that requires the detainment of unauthorized migrants accused of theft and violent crimes, marking the first legislation that President Donald Trump can sign as Congress, with some bipartisan support, swiftly moved in line with his plans to break the illegal immigration
Immigration policy has often been one of the most entrenched issues in Congress, but a crucial faction of 46 politically vulnerable Democrats joined with Republicans to lift the strict proposal to passage on a 263-156 vote tally.
“For decades, it has been almost impossible for our government to agree on solutions for the problems at our border and within our country,” said Sen. Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican. She called the legislation “perhaps the most significant immigration enforcement bill” to be passed by Congress in nearly three decades.
Still, the bill would require a massive ramp up in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s capabilities, but does not include any new funding.
Republican congressional leaders have made it clear they intend to follow suit, though their toughest challenge will be finding a way to approve the funding to actually implement Trump’s hardline plans.
What he’s doing is kickstarting what will ultimately be our legislative agenda,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La
House Republicans initially passed the legislation last year with support from 37 Democrats in a move that was intended to deliver a political rebuke to then-President Joe Biden’s handling of the southern border. It then languished in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
The vast majority of U.S. adults favor deporting immigrants convicted of violent crimes, according to a recent survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. However, only about 37% of U.S. adults are in favor of deporting immigrants in the U.S. illegally who have not been convicted of a crime.
“While the bill is not perfect, it sends a clear message that we think that criminals should be deported,” said Rep. Tom Suozzi, a New York Democrat who has called on his party to support tougher immigration enforcement.
Under the legislation, federal authorities would be required to detain any migrant arrested or charged with crimes like shoplifting. The scope of the proposal was widened in the Senate to also include those accused of assaulting a police officer or crimes that injure or kill someone.
concerns raised about the bill may strip due to the process of rights for migrants
The bill also gives legal standing to state attorneys general to sue the federal government for harm caused by federal immigration decisions. That gives states new power in setting immigration policy when they have already been trying to push back against presidential decisions under both the Trump and Biden administrations. Democrats unsuccessfully pushed to have that provision stripped from the bill in the Senate, saying it would inject even more uncertainty and partisanship into immigration policy.
Ultimately, even the Trump administration is likely to struggle to implement the new requirements unless Congress follows up later this year with funding. Republicans are currently strategizing how to push their priorities through Congress through a party-line process known as budget reconciliation. They have put the cost of funding Trump’s border and deportation priorities at roughly $100 billion.
Trump has “laid out the largest domestic logistical undertaking of our lifetimes — that being the deportation of the vast majority of illegal aliens present in the United States,” Ken Cuccinelli, who directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services during Trump’s first presidency, told a Senate panel recently.
Others raised concerns that the bill would strip due process rights for migrants, including minors or recipients of the Deferred Action for Unaccompanied Minors program. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said that federal authorities would now be forced to prioritize detention of migrants arrested for low-level crimes like shoplifting, rather than those who commit violent felonies.
On the whole, there is no evidence that immigrants are more prone to violent crime. Several studies have found immigrants commit lower rates of crime than those born in the U.S. Groups that advocate for restrictive immigration policies dispute or dismiss those findings.
