Congress passes Laken Riley Act, sends bill to Trump to sign

Congress passed the first bill of the new Trump era on Wednesday, delivering on the president’s immigration promises with legislation to push for detention and deportation of criminal migrants — including those with relatively low-level offenses such as shoplifting.

The House voted 263-156 to approve the Laken Riley Act. The Senate passed the bill earlier this week on a similar bipartisan vote, which means the legislation now heads to President Trump’s desk for his expected signature.

Republicans said it was the first in what they expect to be a stream of immigration crackdown bills.

“This law and the others that will follow it will ensure that no future president will be able to unleash on our country what Joe Biden and his Democratic supporters did,” said Rep. Tom McClintock, California Republican.