Sen. Baldwin explains why she voted against Laken Riley Act: ‘It will cause more chaos’

Tammy Baldwin

WASHINGTON (WTAQ-WLUK) — President Donald Trump is poised to sign the Laken Riley Act into law next week in what will be the first legislative victory of his second term in office.

The bill is heading to the White House after it was approved by the Senate and House with bipartisan support. The vote was 263 to 156 in the House, with the Republican-led bill gaining support from 46 Democrats. In the Senate, 12 Democrats crossed party lines to help pass the legislation, 64 to 35.

Tammy Baldwin, a Democratic senator from Wisconsin, was not among them.

The Laken Riley Act is named after a 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia who was murdered in February 2024 by an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela. Her killer, Jose Ibarra, received a lifetime prison sentence without the possibility of parole.

The legislation is aimed at cracking down on people in the U.S. who commit nonviolent crimes, such as theft. It would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to take custody of and detain undocumented immigrants arrested for, charged with or convicted of acts of burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting.

Riley’s death became a flashpoint in the political debate over immigration and a rallying cry for Republicans on the 2024 presidential campaign trail. Trump repeatedly highlighted that a Georgia police department had cited Ibarra for shoplifting, but ICE never issued a detainer for him and he was not taken into custody.

In a statement, Sen. Baldwin explained her decision to vote against the Laken Riley Act.

I came to the table to debate the Laken Riley Act because I’ll work with anyone to fix our broken immigration system and keep our Wisconsinites safe – and I’m glad to have improved the bill to ensure that violent criminals and those who assault cops are going to be prioritized. But, at the end of the day, this bill needed more changes because, right now, it will cause more chaos and throw another wrench into our complicated immigration system and fails to prioritize the people who are guilty of committing crimes.