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March 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. House passed a measure Thursday that would require any migrant who commits burglary or theft to be detained. The bill was named after a student in Georgia who officials say was killed by an immigrant in the country illegally. Augusta University nursing student Laken Riley, 22, was killed by blunt force trauma February 22 in Athens while she was jogging.
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The so-called Laken Riley Act, which passed the House 251-170, is the latest effort by Republicans to highlight the immigration issue in an election year. Thirty-seven Democrats joined all GOP members in supporting the bill.
Republicans have used Riley's death to criticize the Biden administration on border and immigration policy.
"Innocent Americans from Laken Riley in Georgia to the 14-year-old rape victim of an illegal immigrant in our home state of Louisiana," Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Wednesday. "They've all been victimized by those whom the Biden administration has released into our country. He is releasing them into your state."
Research has shown that migrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens.
Jose Ibarra, 26, a Venezuelan citizen, was charged in the slaying of Riley. Officials have said Ibarra was in the United States illegally.
The House approved the legislation just hours prior to the scheduled start of Biden's State of the Union address. Republicans have said they hope passing the bill will call attention to Riley's death.
Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., sent a letter to the president this week urging him to mention the Georgia student's name during his remarks, and Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., said his guest seat for Thursday's speech will be empty "in honor of Laken Riley and all Americans who have lost their lives to an illegal alien criminal."
Other Republicans have announced they are bringing immigration-focused guests to the speech to highlight the issue, as well.
Democrats, though, have criticized Republicans for what they say is an exploitation of Riley's death.
"Unfortunately, instead of coming together to express our sorrow for Laken's tragic loss, the majority appears to be exploiting her death for yet another partisan, political stunt," Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said on the House floor Thursday.
"Rather than approaching this tragic event in a thoughtful manner, Republicans appear to have just thrown together language from existing, unrelated bills that target and scapegoat immigrants to score cheap political points in an election year while doing nothing to address the situation at the border," he said. "This approach is fundamentally unserious."
The bill would change the current detention policy. Right now, people arrested for nonviolent crimes have not been prioritized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The bill would require those arrested for `any burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting offense '' to be detained, but it's not clear if the new rules would have prevented the release of Ibarra, whom U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement said entered the country illegally in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, from Mexico and was released for further processing after being detained. It's unclear if he was seeking asylum.
Ibarra was later arrested in Georgia after being given citations for shoplifting and failing to appear for his court date.
Polls show immigration is currently the number one issue among voters ahead of the November election. A Gallup survey released last month reported 28 percent of respondents said immigration was the most important problem facing the country today, the top ranked response. 'The government' was next at 20 percent, and the economy in general garnered 12 percent.
Collins, the bill's author, said H.R. 7511 is meant to give U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement more tools to "fight against illegal alien crime."
The act calls for reinstating immigration policies in effect under former President Donald Trump, including a practice known as "Remain in Mexico," and calls for the elimination of the current practice of "catch and release."
