Senate Democrats joined Republicans on Thursday in a strong bipartisan vote to advance the Laken Riley Act.
The cloture vote, which requires 60 votes to pass, was overwhelmingly in favor, with 84 senators supporting the measure, nine opposing, and six not voting. The legislation aims to crack down on illegal immigrants involved in criminal activities while in the United States.
The final vote on the legislation could take place as early as next week, according to Politico. While a vote to end debate does not guarantee support for the bill itself, only a simple majority will be needed for passage. Given the strong bipartisan backing during the cloture vote, the measure appears likely to pass with ease, the Western Journal added.
The bill is named after 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was tragically murdered by an illegal immigrant while jogging in Athens last February. Reports at the time indicated that she fought off her attacker for several minutes until he allegedly used a rock to strike her in the head, killing her.
Several Democrats have already expressed support for the legislation, including Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Ruben Gallego of Arizona, both of whom co-sponsored the bill alongside over 50 Republicans. GOP Senator Katie Britt of Alabama introduced the legislation in the Senate.
Appearing with Britt on Wednesday on Fox News, Fetterman said, “If you’re here illegally and you’re committing crimes … I don’t know why anybody thinks that it’s controversial, that they all need to go.”
“There’s 47 of us in the Senate, and if we can’t pull up with seven votes [for cloture] — if we can’t get at least seven of 47 … that’s the reason why we lost. That’s one of them,” he added.
