The House passed a bill on Tuesday that would target undocumented immigrants charged with nonviolent crimes for deportation, an opening salvo from a Republican majority that has vowed to deliver on President-elect Donald J. Trump’s promised crackdown at the border.
The measure, which drew the support of 48 Democrats as well as all Republicans, appears to be on a path to enactment, having garnered bipartisan backing in the Senate, which plans to take it up on Friday. It is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was killed last year in Georgia by a migrant who had crossed into the United States illegally and was arrested and charged with shoplifting, but was not detained.
The quick action reflected how Republicans in Congress, emboldened by the governing trifecta they will hold when Mr. Trump takes office on Jan. 20, are using their power to revive and pass a raft of border security measures that died during the last Congress in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Those include bills to increase deportations, hold asylum applicants outside of the United States and strip federal funding from cities that limit their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement authorities.
“This bill is more than just a piece of legislation; it’s a return to common-sense American values,” Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 Republican, told reporters on Tuesday. “And under President Trump’s leadership, there will be a lot more where that came from.”
The bipartisan vote, 264 to 159, illustrated how some Democrats, stung by their party’s electoral losses in November, are reassessing their stances on issues like immigration even as they brace for a far more severe approach under Mr. Trump.
“I support giving authorities the tools to prevent tragedies like this one while we work on comprehensive solutions to our broken system,” Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, said on Tuesday in a statement endorsing the legislation.
Republicans, who control 53 Senate seats, would need seven Democrats to support taking up the legislation to allow it to receive a vote. Democratic Senators Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, who were elected in November, voted for the legislation as House members last year.
The bill would require federal authorities to detain undocumented immigrants charged with burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting, broadening the list of charges that would subject them to being held and potentially deported. It aims to target people like Jose Antonio Ibarra, the Venezuelan man who received a life sentence in November for killing Ms. Riley.
“Right now, ICE is unable to detain and deport the illegal criminals who commit these minor-level crimes,” Representative Mike Collins, Republican of Georgia and the author of the bill, said on the floor, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “We need to get these people off the street. These criminals are getting bolder and bolder while our communities become more unsafe.”
Many Democrats have argued that the new category is too broad, and could result in innocent people being thrown into detention.
“Unfortunately, there are countless real-life examples of people getting wrongfully arrested for crimes they didn’t commit,” Representative Pramila Jayapal, Democrat of Washington, said on the floor. “People deserve to have their day in court and are innocent until proven guilty. That seems to be something that the majority has forgotten or doesn’t seem to care about.”
Under current law, noncitizens who have been convicted of at least two petty offenses are subject to potential deportation.
The legislation would also give state attorneys general the right to sue the U.S. attorney general or the homeland security secretary if an immigrant who enters the United States illegally and is released goes on to commit crimes that harm either the state or its residents.
Democratic critics argued that the provision was unconstitutional and would allow conservative state attorneys general to effectively dictate federal immigration policy.
“This appears to be a ham-handed attempt to circumvent recent Supreme Court rulings limiting state standing to sue the federal government over immigration enforcement matters,” Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, said on the House floor. He was referring to the court’s 2023 decision in United States v. Texas, in which it ruled 8 to 1 that state attorneys general could not challenge the Biden administration’s policies regarding which immigrants entering the country illegally to prioritize for detention and removal.
But Republicans argued that by allowing states to sue when their residents are harmed, they were merely acting on a scenario that Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh mentioned in his majority opinion in that case. Justice Kavanaugh wrote that states might be able to bring such cases “when Congress elevates de facto injuries to the status of legally cognizable injuries redressable by a federal court.”
“That is exactly what this bill does, by the book,” said Representative Tom McClintock, Republican of California.
