By Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, IMMIGRATION IMPACT
The American Immigration Council does not endorse or oppose candidates for elected office. We aim to provide analysis regarding the implications of the election on the U.S. immigration system.
Who runs the U.S. immigration system?
If the Senate passes the Laken Riley Act this week, the answer might not be Congress or the president. The bill, already passed in the House, would hand state attorneys general, like Ken Paxton in Texas, veto power over large swaths of federal immigration policy.
Under a provision of the bill which has gotten little attention, federal courts in places like Texas and Louisiana could hear lawsuits seeking to impose sweeping bans on all visas from countries such as India and China. State officials could also seek court orders forcing the government to deport a specific individual without the signoff of an ICE officer.
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“Don’t Be Fooled by Soundbites” – the Disconnect Between What the “Laken Riley Act” Does and Public Descriptions
The following is a statement from Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“Despite the name of the legislation and the messaging focus of some of its backers, the Laken Riley Act is filled with unrelated and sweeping measures that won’t improve public safety. Instead, this bill would empower state anti-immigrant zealots to take the reins of federal immigration policy while throwing our out-of-date immigration system into more chaos. Those touting this bill as a necessary policy – or political – way forward should get their facts straight and give a closer reading to the bill text and dangerous implications.”
Among the most troubling provisions of the legislation is language that would empower rabidly anti-immigrant state attorneys general to run roughshod over federal immigration policymaking – from international visa issuance to the discretionary authority of federal immigration officials:
- As policy expert Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council writes in a must-read MSNBC opinion column, “The House GOP’s first bill of 2025 could enable a Ken Paxton power grab”:“The Laken Riley Act would completely upend the long-standing power balance between the states and the federal government on immigration enforcement. Rather than federal supremacy, states could have the power to second-guess decisions made throughout every level of the federal government and potentially overrule the president himself … Giving a state attorney general veto power over everything from visa bans to individual release decisions made by ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers, threatens to make the entire immigration system even more chaotic than it already is.”
- And as Elvia Díaz writes in her latest Arizona Republic column, “Selling the legislation as merely deporting criminals is politically convenient. Americans will eat that up in one gulp. After all, who can possibly defend criminals? But don’t be fooled by soundbites … It’s a power grab by states to dismantle federal authority over immigration enforcement.”
- As The New Republic’s Greg Sargent writes in his latest column on the policy and political implications of the bill and debate: “It suggests that some Democrats, spooked by Trump’s comeback, have already decided there’s no percentage in even attempting to challenge anything carrying the aura of ‘toughness’ on immigration. That doesn’t bode well for their capacity to resist the terrible crackdown that’s coming, but fortunately, it’s not too late to find a better path.”
Additional Resources
- Read the new America’s Voice blog post, “The Bankrupt Politics and Policy of the Ken Paxton Empowerment Act (AKA the Laken Riley Act H.R.29/S.5)”
- Read from the National Immigration Law Center, “The NILC Opposes the Laken Riley Act”
Currently, immigration authority is managed at the federal level. Giving states a veto power over thousands of decisions made every day by federal law enforcement officers and leaders will complicate immigration issues in every community and threaten to set off international incidents which could hurt U.S. interests around the globe.
The bill is named after Laken Riley, a nursing student who was murdered in February 2024 by Jose Ibarra, a migrant from Venezuela who crossed the border in September 2022. Seizing on Ibarra’s very atypical immigration record (crimes committed across multiple states while evading ICE arrest) to paint all migrants as criminals and the Biden administration as responsible, the GOP introduced the Laken Riley Act soon afterwards.
The Laken Riley Act Would Give States Sweeping Power Over Immigration Policy added by NewBlackVoices on
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