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President Trump’s promise to crack down on illegal immigration is pushing forward today in two ways. The Pentagon will send roughly 1,500 active duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border. And Congress passed the Laken Riley Act, making it easier to detain and deport anyone in the U.S. without legal status if they’ve been charged with a crime.
From left, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., talk to reporters about the Laken Riley Act, a bill to detain unauthorized immigrants who have been accused of certain crimes, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 9.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
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J. Scott Applewhite/AP
- 🎧 Supporters of the bill argue that it will increase public safety, while those that oppose it say it bypasses due process since the person won’t have to be convicted of a crime to be detained or deported, NPR’s Ximena Bustillo tells Up First. Democrats widely rejected the bill last year. This time around, 46 House Democrats joined Republicans in supporting it. Bustillo says this
