President Donald Trump has officially signed the Laken Riley Act into law. Under it, Homeland Security is required to detain and deport any undocumented immigrant arrested for low-level crimes like shoplifting, along with violent crimes like assault on a federal officer.
It passed Congress with bipartisan support — including from Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, who co-sponsored the Senate version. Rights groups have repeatedly warned it erodes due process for immigrants and has no carve-outs for minors.
Leecia Welch is the deputy litigation director of the legal aid group Children’s Rights and co–counsel in ongoing Flores Settlement negotiations. The settlement governs the conditions in which immigrant children are allowed to be held in federal custody, including facilities run by Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
“Essentially, in the name of public safety, the Laken Riley Act, subjects children to indefinite, no bond, detention in ICE facilities, for offenses that are as trivial as taking candy from the corner store,” she said.
Welch says it’s also unclear how and where people would be detained — including children. She says the Flores Settlement can govern conditions for centers that house children, but may not be able to stave off indefinitely detention.
“The vast majority of the children that could get ensnared due to the Laken Riley Act’s requirements, would not be saved from indefinite detention by the Flores Settlement,” she said.
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A funding bill passed by the US House this week allocates some sixty four billion dollars to the Department of Homeland Security — including some $10 billion directly to ICE. -
Weeks have passed since a national report by The Bulwark said Phoenix would soon become the focus of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Now Phoenix police say they don't use tactics the federal agency has become known for. -
Pinal County’s top prosecutor says his enforcement agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement remains in effect despite the Board of Supervisors having declared it void. -
Tucson Mayor Regina Romero and the council voted unanimously this week to direct the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would bar ICE from staging enforcement operations on city-owned property. It also aims to set up a policy for handling requests from the federal government to use city facilities. -
The portal’s homepage says members of the public should use the form to report potentially unlawful activity by federal personnel from agencies like ICE, Customs and Border Protection, and Homeland Security Investigations.
