The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is reportedly attempting to kill the Laken Riley Act, a bill that requires the DHS to take illegal aliens who have been charged, arrested, or convicted for crimes such as theft, larceny, burglary or shoplifting into custody.
Pablo Manriquez, a news reporter, wrote in a post on X that “sources at DHS” were informing him that the cost of the Laken Riley Act was estimated to be between $20-$30 billion.
Manriquez added that the DHS sources had cited “a $7 billion figure just for beds BEFORE the mandate’s costs on local law enforcement.”
The post from Manriquez came in response to an article shared by Stef Kight, a political reporter with Axios. In the article from Axios, it was revealed that “federal immigration officials” had warned that they may need to detain roughly 60,000 people and require “billions of dollars and thousands more detention beds.”
NEW: Sources at DHS are telling me the cost of Laken Riley Act would be more like $20-30 billion, citing a $7 billion figure just for beds BEFORE the mandate's costs on local law enforcement. https://t.co/ZfMrNTvgJ9
— Pablo Manríquez (@PabloReports) January 12, 2025
As Breitbart News’s John Binder previously reported, at the beginning of January the House of Representatives passed the Laken Riley Act, despite receiving opposition from 159 Democrats.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has been one of the Democrats who has supported the Laken Riley Act.
“ICE reported tens of thousands of migrants with criminal records — homicide or sexual assault,” Fetterman wrote in a post on X.
Fetterman added that 425,000 migrants “have criminal records in total and should be deported.”
“I support a secure border. I support a legal path for Dreamers. I support the Laken Riley Act,” Fetterman continued.
ICE reported tens of thousands of migrants with criminal records — homicide or sexual assault.
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) January 7, 2025
425,000 have criminal records in total and should be deported.
I support a secure border.
I support a legal path for Dreamers.
I support the Laken Riley Act. https://t.co/elEuIByd6s
The Laken Riley Act is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered on February 22, 2024, in Athens, Georgia, by Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal alien who had been released into the United States.
In November 2024, Ibarra was convicted on all counts of murdering Riley.
Breitbart News’s Bradley Jaye, previously reported that 33 Senate Democrats had voted with Republicans in order to “clear a key procedural hurdle on the Laken Riley Act.”
