CV NEWS FEED // President Donald Trump Wednesday afternoon signed into law the Laken Riley Act, a border security measure named for a young University of Georgia student murdered last February by an illegal migrant with a known criminal record. Observers widely hailed the act’s signing as the first major legislative win of Trump’s second term.
“This is a very important law,” Trump said of the legislation. “This is something that has brought Democrats and Republicans together. That’s not easy to do. Laken did it.”
“We’ve gathered this afternoon to take another historic action,” Trump said from the White House minutes before the signing. He called the legislation “the very first bill that I proudly sign into law as the 47th President of the United States.”
“Laken was a brilliant and beautiful 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia, the best in her class,” the president continued. “From the time she was in first grade, Laken knew she wanted to spend her time caring for others. That’s what she did.”
“To her friends and classmates, she was a light of warmth and kindness in every single room,” Trump continued. “To her parents and family, she was everything in the world.
Trump acknowledged that Riley’s parents were present during the signing.
While out for a morning run on the University of Georgia campus, “Laken was attacked, viciously assaulted, beaten, brutalized, and murdered by an illegal alien gang member who was set loose into the country by the last administration,” the president recounted.
“To Laken’s family, we will keep Laken’s memory alive in our hearts forever,” Trump added. “With today’s action, her name will live forever in the laws of our country.”
President Donald J. Trump Signs the Laken Riley Act https://t.co/RtqjGGGrIU
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) January 29, 2025
As CatholicVote previously reported, the legislation “requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain certain non-U.S. nationals … who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting.”
The Venezuelan national who murdered Riley “had previously been arrested for shoplifting and released,” CatholicVote noted in a previous report.
The legislation passed in both the House and the Senate with bipartisan support, albeit with a minority of Democrats in both chambers voting in favor.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, the act’s first Democratic co-sponsor in the Senate, celebrated the then-anticipated signing of the act on X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday morning. Fetterman has notably broken with his party on the issue of immigration on multiple occasions.
“I believe a secure border creates a more secure nation and it’s just common sense,” Fetterman said in a statement posted to X. “I believe a stronger border is fully compatible with my commitment to immigration.”
Today, I’m celebrating the Laken Riley Act being signed into law. pic.twitter.com/gqorOJJ6kQ
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) January 29, 2025
“I believe Pennsylvania elected me to fight for a better commonwealth and to work with both sides of the aisle,” the Democratic lawmaker added
Fetterman’s wife Gisele is an immigrant who entered the country illegally as a child but later received a green card and is now an American citizen.