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Laken Riley Act received approval from Nevada’s state representatives; opponents say it’s “bipartisan support for family separation”

AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed his first bill, the Laken Riley Act, into law which received unanimous support from Nevada’s senate and house democrats.

During the bill signing, the president thanked the “big percentage of Democrats” who voted in favor.

This includes Nevada senators Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, and House representatives Steven Horsford, Susie Lee and Dina Titus.

In a tweet Cortez Masto said she voted in favor of holding those who commit a crime accountable.

“Nevadans want solutions that keep their families safe, and I will continue to work across the aisle to deliver for our state,” it read.

Sen. Rosen defended her vote saying “I can tell you that if you're a criminal, you should be held accountable — period. If you're here, you're undocumented, you've committed a crime, we need to keep Nevada safe.”

Rosen said that they did all they could to “make the bill a better bill” and now she will focus on Trump's mass deportation efforts.

“You can see throughout history, anytime this has been done, a lot of innocent people are hurt and we don't want to see that happen,” said Rosen about Trump's deportation efforts.

But immigrant advocacy groups who urged elected officials to vote against the bill, said it counts as part of the Trump administration's deportation efforts and that it betrays the core value of “due process,” stated in the Bill of Rights.

Nevada immigration advocacy groups speak out

Erika Castro, organizing director with Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, said support from Nevadan democrats emboldens the Trump administration’s anti migrant policies and it reflects a shift in Nevada’s elected officials’ stance on immigration.

“It's disheartening to see a lot of our delegation move to the center on immigration because the reality is that our communities are not criminals,” Castro said. “And all that Laken Riley act does is undo due process for our communities in the immigration law.”

Castro disagreed with the claim that the bill is meant to enhance public safety and puts everyone in the immigrant community in danger by racial profiling.

“This law gives the opportunity for someone to say, ‘they are stealing, they are doing this,’ call law enforcement, and then potentially end up getting people arrested and detained with no due process,” she said

Castro sees mixed status families as some of the most vulnerable to this bill. It removes the right to a fair trial; they are unable to hire legal help and will be exposed to being separated from family members without legal status.

“For mixed-status families, their family members could be racially profiled, accused of committing a crime, and then if law enforcement steps in and they get arrested and detained, it's going to be really hard for them to be able to access bail,” Castro said.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Phoenix, Ariz., on Apr. 28, 2010.
John Moore
/
Getty Images
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Phoenix, Ariz., on Apr. 28, 2010.

What does the law mean?

The law allows the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain individuals who do not have legal status who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting, even if they haven’t been convicted.

The law increases the chances of detention or removal of individuals without legal status by allowing state governments to sue the federal government if they believe immigration enforcement decisions—such as releasing a detainee or failing to deport someone—have caused harm.

States can challenge federal actions related to asylum processing, visa restrictions, immigration parole, and deportation enforcement.

The law was named after 22-year-old Laken Riley, a Georgia student who was killed by Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan immigrant who entered the U.S. unlawfully.

Ibarra had been arrested and released for shoplifting and driving without a license.

Manny is KUNR State Government Journalist, leading coverage of Nevada’s government, producing in-depth reports, a monthly politics show, and organizing public policy forums across the state.
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