How Katie Britt Pushed Laken Riley Act to Final Passage in the Senate
The amended anti-immigrant bill, which mandates detention for minor offenses and empowers state AGs to challenge federal immigration policy, returns to the House.
WASHINGTON — Minutes before Senate Majority Leader John Thune put a controversial anti-immigrant bill by Senator Katie Britt (R-AL) on the floor for a final round of votes before final passage on Monday, we asked Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) if he was aye or nay.
Warner gave us a thumbs down, indicating he would vote against the Laken Riley Act, a bill that would mandate detention of migrants for misdemeanor offenses like shoplifting, and empower states attorneys general to sue the federal government and, in effect, sanction foreign governments over federal immigration policy. When Warner got to the Senate chamber, Britt, 42, was waiting to convince the 70 year-old Democrat to join Republicans to pass her bill.
Warner caved. So did Senator Raphael Warnock (R-GA) who Britt implored at the last minute to vote for her bill since Laken Riley, the woman for whom the bill was named, had been murdered in Warnock’s home state at the University of Georgia. In the end, the Laken Riley Act passed …