Donald Trump Signs Laken Riley Act to Detain Migrants Charged with Crimes

US President Donald Trump signed Laken Riley Act on Wednesday, allowing the implementation of the bill to establish more severe laws for migrants who break the U.S. politics, thus, giving him satisfaction of being tough on illegal immigrants. “We are doing today a groundbreaking law that is going to save countless American lives,” Trump said during an event where he singed the bill at the White House and continued, “This has been something that practically brought the two party sides together, which certainly isn't easy.”

The bill targets illegal migrants who are facing imprisonment on the charges of crimes due to their discharge, thus, posing a larger list of crimes that would require automatic migrant detention. The Laken Riley Act makes it compulsory for the Homeland Security Department to detain illegal aliens who are charged with crimes that resulted in death or severe bodily injury to other people. Besides these, some other ones like assaulting law enforcement officers or lesser crimes such as theft, larceny or shoplifting are also specified in the bill.

Moreover, the legislation entitles the state officials to sue the federal government when they are of the view that it has botched the enforcement of the migrant law as explained in a Bloomberg report. It is worth mentioning, however, that the bill is named after a nursing student from Georgia who was slaughtered by an illegal immigrant in 2024, a fact that marked the turning of the tide in several debates on immigration policy and border security. Laken Riley's parents and sister could also be seen with the US President when he officiated the signing of the bill.

“This dreadful event should never have been allowed to occur. And as president, I’m fighting every single day to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again,” Trump said. The bill was just one of Trump’s wins in reining in illegal immigration early in his term last week.