OAN Staff Sophia Flores
12:40 PM – Tuesday, January 29, 2025
President Donald Trump has officially signed the Laken Riley Act into law, making the measure the first piece of legislation to receive the president’s signature and seal of approval since his return back to the White House.
The bill, which was signed by Trump on Wednesday, mandates that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) must detain all illegal immigrants who are arrested for non-violent crimes, such as theft, or violent crimes, such as murder, rape, or assault. The bill includes those who are seeking asylum in the United States.
The bill also allows state attorneys general to sue the federal government — should they believe that their states have been negatively affected by the country’s failure to enforce immigration laws.
In his opening remarks, Trump highlighted how this bill, as a rare occurrence, successfully brought members from both sides of the aisle, Republicans and Democrats, together.
“This is something that has brought Democrats and Republicans together. That’s not easy to do,” Trump said. “Laken did it. America will never ever forget Laken Hope Riley.”
Additionally, he expressed that during an administration that prioritized undocumented foreigners over U.S. citizens, the courageous 22-year-old woman, who fought for her life but was still tragically murdered by an illegal immigrant– will always be remembered by America. As a kind of remembrance, the bill bears her name.
Following Trump’s message, Riley’s mother took to the podium to speak.
There, she thanked President Trump for keeping his promise to secure America’s borders, stopping any future tragedies of a similar nature from occurring again, at least for the next four years, and for promising to never forget about her brave daughter.
“We want to thank President Trump for the promises he made to us. He said he would secure our borders and that he would never forget about Laken,” Allyson Phillips, Riley’s mom, stated. “He’s a man of his word. We trust that he will fight for the American people.”
The bill is named after the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was murdered in February 2024 by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who was in the U.S. illegally, while she was out for a run.
Prior to murdering Laken, Ibarra was previously arrested for illegally entering the U.S. in September 2022.
According to federal officials, he was also arrested for a second time in 2023 for child endangerment. However, he was released due to Biden’s loose “catch and release” border policies. The last time he was arrested was back in 2023 — for shoplifting.
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