Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said deciding to support the Laken Riley Act came down to basic common sense.

The Republican House, which has the slimmest of majorities, passed the legislation as its first bill of the new Congress. The Laken Riley Act is an immigration policy measure named for the 22-year-old Georgia nursing school student who was brutally murdered last year by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal immigrant who was arrested in 2022 for entering the United States illegally. Ibarra was “paroled and released for further processing,” according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) authored the bill, which changed federal law to require ICE to issue detainers and take custody of people in the country illegally who commit crimes.