Trump signs historic enforcement bill into law

Pres. Trump signed the Laken Riley Act (S. 5) into law on Wednesday. It is the first piece of legislation he has signed in his second term as President.

The Immigration Accountability Project's Director of Policy, Rosemary Jenks, and Director of Government Relations, Grant Newman, were honored to be invited to the signing ceremony.

Laken Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student who was brutally murdered on a morning jog at her college in Athens, GA, in February of last year. Her murderer, Jose Ibarra, had entered the country illegally in 2022 and was released into the interior on parole. The House Judiciary Committee wrote a report on the case along with a short video. Laken Riley and her family also stand for countless other victims, like Kate Steinle and Sarah Root, who lost their lives because their government prioritized empathy for criminals over its own citizens.

The Laken Riley Act is an important first step in righting the wrongs of an immigration system that has been abused for decades. It requires the detention of illegal aliens charged with theft or burglary-related offenses, assaulting an officer, or causing death or serious bodily injury. Critically, it gives state Attorneys General standing to sue administrations that release aliens contrary to the law, fail to issue visa sanctions against countries that refuse to take back their deported nationals, abuse parole authority, or fail to detain aliens ordered removed from the country.

Although this was the first substantive immigration bill in years to be signed into law, we hope it won't be the last this Congress. Congress has to plug the loopholes in the law that have been exploited for decades.

Also, reforms to our legal immigration system are desperately needed in order to protect American workers from unfair competition with cheaper, foreign labor.

Pres. Trump signing S. 5 into law wasn't the only news made during the event on Wednesday. He also announced that his administration would begin using the military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to hold detained illegal aliens while they await their removal.

Immigration News

White House says Colombia agrees to take deported migrants after Trump tariff showdown
The big news over the weekend in the immigration world was that Colombia refused to allow American planes carrying deported Colombian nationals to land. Shortly after, President Trump announced that he was using his authority under the law to suspend the processing of certain visas in Colombia and threatened substantial tariffs against Colombia if they failed to take back their deported citizens. Within hours, the Colombian President complied and sent his presidential plane to assist in repatriation. You can read about it in the AP story above. 8 U.S.C. §1253 requires the Secretary of State to cut off nonimmigrant and/or immigrant visas if a country unreasonably delays repatriation of its citizens, nationals, and residents. This episode demonstrates that this authority effectively forces recalcitrant nations to cooperate. Countries around the world should take note.

Trump commerce nominee says Canada, Mexico can avoid tariffs, vows stronger China tech curbs
On another front, while all eyes were on the more highly controversial Senate confirmation hearings this week, President Trump’s nominee for the Commerce Department, Howard Lutnick, had his own before the Commerce Committee. In his testimony, Lutnick addressed the President’s threat to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada if they failed to assist in controlling their borders with the United States and stop the flow of illegal aliens and fentanyl. Lutnick said- “If we are your biggest trading partner, show us the respect, shut your border… This is a separate tariff to create action from Mexico and action from Canada. And as far as I know, they are acting swiftly, and if they execute it, there will be no tariff. And if they don’t, then there will be.”

Feds cuff more than 900 illegal migrants in a single day — including Tren de Aragua gangbangers and a child rapist
We are now eleven days into the President’s mass deportation effort. Jennie Taer of the New York Post reports that, as of yesterday, nearly 6,500 illegal aliens have been arrested. The article goes on to report on some of the more serious criminal aliens ICE has removed from American streets.

Trump administration strips Venezuelans of latest protection from deportation
Towards the end of the Biden Administration, efforts were underway at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prevent President Trump from removing illegal aliens who were paroled in under various illegal parole schemes, most notably the CHNV and CBP One app parole programs. Before President Trump’s inauguration, DHS extended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Venezuela, which would have allowed roughly 600,000 aliens to stay until at least Oct. 2, 2026. However, on Tuesday, newly confirmed Secretary of DHS Kristi Noem canceled that extension, so Venezuelan TPS will only last until September of this year. This is a helpful step in undoing the prior Administration’s abuse of parole and TPS as a sort of shadow immigration system outside the bounds of the law.

Graham, Cruz and Britt Introduce Bill to Restrict Birthright Citizenship
Finally, this week, Senators Graham (R, SC), Cruz (R, TX), and Britt (R, AL) introduced the Senate version of the Birthright Citizenship Act. Like the House companion, this bill would end birth tourism and the use of children as “anchor babies” for people who came in illegally, and it would put the United States more in line with the rest of the developed world.

Next Week

Both the House and Senate are in session next week.