Lafayette Reporter

MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), along with all other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee, in urging Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to schedule a mark-up of the bipartisan Laken Riley Act.

The House of Representatives passed the companion bill on March 7, 2024, in a bipartisan vote of 251-70, with 37 Democrats voting in favor of the legislation. Sen. Durbin has blocked the Senate from passing the bill twice in recent months.

“As you are aware, during the Biden Administration and due to its policies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reported over 7.8 million encounters with illegal aliens at the southern border. That staggering number of encounters is larger than the individual populations of 37 states and larger than the number of people who live in any city throughout the United States other than New York City... One of these encounters was with Jose Ibarra, the alleged killer of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley,” the senators wrote.

“This bipartisan bill is a common-sense measure that would help to avoid future tragedies resulting from the failure to enforce and follow immigration law, and we look forward to the Judiciary Committee’s consideration of it,” they continued.

“The Laken Riley Act is but one of numerous pieces of legislation that Senate Republicans have introduced to better protect the American people from the consequences of the ongoing crisis at the southern border and to stop—not merely manage—the flow of illegal aliens to the southern border and into the United States. So far during this Congress, the Judiciary Committee has failed to take meaningful action on any of those bills. We hope that will change in the near future, and we request that you start with the Laken Riley Act,” concluded their letter.

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) also signed the letter.