Senate pushes bill to deport immigrants accused of crimes past major hurdle

The Senate on Friday cleared the last major hurdle to passing legislation that would require the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants accused of crimes or assaulting police, after several Democrats joined the Republicans to advance it.

In a tentative vote of 61 to 35 that set the stage for a congressional impeachment within days, 10 Democrats joined with Republicans to support the passage of the final election in the assembly, enough to exceed the threshold of 60 votes to avoid a filibuster. All of this ensured that the legislation, which passed the House with bipartisan support last week, will make it to President-elect Donald J. Trump’s desk for signature after the swearing in on Monday.

It still must be approved by the Senate in a vote scheduled for late Monday afternoon, just hours after Mr. Trump took office, and returned to the House before to go to the White House.

The Senate action came after senators spent days debating changes to the bill, a process that exposed deep divisions among Democrats on immigration as some in the party moved to the right after his party’s defeat in the November election. The bill is the opening legislative act for Republicans in a broader push to crack down on immigration and strengthen deportations, a promise that Mr. Trump has made a centerpiece of his campaign.

Named for Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed by an immigrant who crossed the United States illegally from Venezuela and had been arrested for shoplifting, but was not detained .

Republicans hailed it as the first of a series of border bills they hope to revive and pass as they cement their governing trifecta on Monday with Mr. Trump’s inauguration. A similar measure passed the House last year but died when the Democratic-led Senate refused to take it up. The GOP also wants to build measures to increase deportations, keep asylum seekers outside the United States and remove federal funding from cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agencies.

The law directs federal authorities to detain illegal immigrants arrested or charged with burglary, theft, theft or shoplifting, expanding the list of charges that could put immigrants in prison and potentially dangerous. will be fired. Senators this week added assaulting a police officer to the expanded list.

“As elected representatives, our most important responsibility is to listen to the will of the American people, to keep the American people safe and secure,” Senator Katie Britt, Republican of Alabama, said shortly before the announcement. – stone. He reiterated that the 2024 election result was a mandate from voters to curb immigration and increase border security, saying, “It is our duty to turn their grievances into action.”

Democrats have raised serious concerns about the bill, saying it would undermine the legal rights of immigrants who have not been convicted of a crime. They also said it would waste limited resources that federal immigration enforcement agencies could use to arrest people who have committed serious and violent crimes.

“We have a long way to go to address my deep concerns about the threatening nature of this bill and the potential for abuse,” said Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, on Thursday. He called on his fellow Democrats to demand more changes to the measure, “but more than that, I encourage them to demand a serious, bipartisan approach to dealing with immigration in an effective and humane way.”

However, a number of Democratic senators, including some who are facing re-election in 2026 or are representing, said that Mr. Trump brought, supported the bill. Among the 10 who voted Friday were Sens. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, Gary Peters of Michigan, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Mark Warner of Virginia, all of whom are up for re-election next year. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly of Arizona, and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, whose state Mr. Trump carried in November, also voted to advance the measure , as did Senator Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire.

The bill would also give state attorneys general the right to sue the U.S. attorney general or the secretary of homeland security if an immigrant enters the country illegally and continues to do so. commit crimes that harm the state or its people.

Immigration advocates denounced the measure as a veiled attempt to allow conservative governors and state attorneys general to dictate federal immigration detention policy. Republicans on Wednesday killed an amendment proposed by Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, that would have removed the section from the bill.

Karoun Demirjian contributed to the report.