President Donald Trump holds the document after signing the Laken Riley Act during an event in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law on Wednesday as his administration’s first piece of legislation. It mandates the detention and potential deportation of people in the U.S. illegally who are accused of theft and violent crimes before they’ve actually been convicted.
The measure quickly passed the new Republican-controlled Congress with some Democratic support even though immigrants rights advocates said it possibly could lead to large roundups of people for offenses as minor as shoplifting. Trump has pledged that his administration will carry out the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history.
The legislation is named for Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who went out for a run in February 2024 and was killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national in the U.S. illegally. Ibarra was found guilty in November and sentenced to life without parole.
Ibarra had been arrested for illegal entry in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, and released to pursue his case in immigration court. Federal officials say he was arrested by New York police in August 2023 for child endangerment and released. Police say he was also suspected of theft in Georgia in October 2023 — all of which occurred before Riley’s killing.
