Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., holds a poster of slain Georgia nursing student Laken Riley during a 'Get Out The Vote Rally' at the Forum River Center in Rome, Ga, on March 9 and voted in favor of the proposed Laken Riley Act. File Photo by Erik S. Lesser/EPA-EFE
Jan. 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved the Laken Riley Act that would require federal authorities to detain illegal migrants who have been convicted of theft and related crimes.
The proposed act was approved by a vote of 264-159 and would enable states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm suffered by state residents due to illegal immigration.
All House GOP members present and 48 Democrats voted in favor of the act while a majority of Democrats opposed the measure.
"We've been very focused on border security," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told news media on Tuesday. "The Laken Riley Act makes it clear: If you're committing crimes in America against people, it's not going to be tolerated."
The proposed act is the first bill approved by the 119th Congress and is named after Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University and who was killed while she jogged on the University of Georgia campus in Athens on Feb. 22.
Riley was murdered by undocumented Venezuelan migrant Jose Ibarra, 26, who is thought to be a member of the violent Tren de Argua gang that has infiltrated the United States during the past four years.
Ibarra is serving a life sentence after a jury last year found him guilty of Riley's murder.
The enabling legislation for the Lake Riley Act now goes to the Senate for consideration.
The Senate could take up the bill as soon as Friday, which would have been Riley's birthday.
Tuesday's vote is the second time the House has voted to enact the proposed measure after initially voting for it in March, but opposition in the Democratic Party-controlled Senate last year blocked its path to becoming a law.
With GOP majorities in the House and Senate and President-elect Donald Trump poised to be sworn in on Jan. 20, the proposed act stands a strong chance of being signed into law this year.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said he intends to bring the measure up for a vote in the Senate.
It would need the support of at least eight Senate Democrats for the bill to receive the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate and be sent to Trump for signing.
Sens. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Gary Peters, D-Mich., have said they support the measure, CNN reported.
Fetterman has signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill, which makes it a bipartisan measure.
"Laken Riley's story is a tragic reminder of what's at stake when our systems fail to protect people," Fetterman told CNN.
"No family should have to endure the pain of losing a loved one to preventable violence. Immigration is what makes our country great," Fetterman said. "I support giving authorities the tools to prevent tragedies like this one while we work on comprehensive solutions to our broken system."
Pro-immigration advocates oppose the measure because it requires the immediate detention of immigrants upon their being arrested or charged for theft, burglary or shoplifting.