More than 30 Democratic senators voted with Republicans to move forward with a bill that could help incoming President Donald Trump carry out his promise of cracking down on undocumented immigrants.
But that doesn’t mean it will become law.
The Laken Riley Act, which passed the House with 48 Democratic votes on Tuesday, could still fail when it comes for a final vote. Several of the Democrats who voted to advance the bill said they want to amend it — something many Republicans are likely to oppose — although many of them were tight-lipped about specifics.
“We’re negotiating. I don’t want to negotiate in public,” Sen. Gary Peters said.
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The bill mandates that federal authorities detain unauthorized immigrants if they’re charged for certain crimes, like theft or shoplifting, even if not convicted. It also expands powers for state attorneys general.
Democrats leading the Senate last session declined to take up the bill. This time, with Republicans in control of the Senate and Democrats as a whole grappling with whether to shift further right on immigration, it fared better. Thirty-three Democrats and Democrat-aligned senators voted in favor of moving ahead.
Some Democrats are fully on board. Sen. John Fetterman is a co-sponsor and is expected to vote for the bill as is, along with senators like Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, who voted to pass the legislation last year when she was in the House. Others were less enthusiastic, like Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and who voted to advance the legislation, but said he’d have to consider it at that time if no amendments were made.
Democrats said they hope to see changes relating to the expansion of powers for state attorneys general and on the language that requires undocumented immigrants to be held by federal authorities even if the charges against them are dropped. Some also hoped to extend certain protections to Dreamers.
“Under the current language, if someone is arrested, they go into detention. I would prefer convicted. Arrested is too broad an opening and there’s no due process after arrest,” King said. “But the underlying purpose of the bill, I’m sympathetic to.”
Republicans back in the House weren’t sure if they would be open to such amendments. Most said they would take a look, but it would have to be minor changes.
“They want amendments, all right, I’m interested to see what that is, but they should just vote up or down on the bill,” Rep. Chip Roy said. “It’s a pretty straightforward bill, but they’re within their rights to amend it.”
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Casey Murray is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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