Legislation Purporting to Enhance Public Safety Will Instead Guarantee Chaos in the Courts and Denial of Due Process

Leadership from the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) responded to the Laken Riley Act which was passed by Congress today with the following statement:

AILA President Kelli Stump stated, “The tragic death of Laken Riley is mourned by her loved ones, the community, and the nation as a whole. As our country grapples with violence against women and girls, public safety must be a top priority for the nation’s elected leaders. However, this legislation will not ensure or improve public safety, and when combined with the President’s myopic and chaotic enforcement policies, it fails to offer any substantive policy solutions that would have any positive measurable effect. Further, by empowering states to challenge federal immigration policy, the legislation will draw anti-immigrant state officials to sue the federal government, wasting taxpayer money on politically motivated lawsuits. The bill would also mandate the unnecessary apprehension and detention of people, even longtime residents integral to our communities, who are merely accused of, but have not been convicted of, low-level misdemeanor offenses like shoplifting.”

AILA Executive Director Ben Johnson added, “The American people can only be disappointed that the first bill the 119th Congress has passed falls so far short of the real solutions that are needed to reform immigration law. The Laken Riley Act will not make the immigration system more efficient, fair, or orderly, or ensure that it meets the needs of the nation’s families, businesses, or strengthen our economy. Instead, our elected leadership has chosen a divisive bill that will erode public safety with provisions that are unconstitutional on their face. Additionally, practically speaking, by mandating detention, the bill will actually interfere with criminal prosecutions and undermines the bedrock principle of the American justice system that people are innocent until proven guilty. All together, this legislation will cost billions of taxpayer dollars and give states standing to litigate politically motivated and frivolous lawsuits, further wasting additional time and money that could be far more usefully spent elsewhere offering actual protection for women and girls. The GOP leadership and the President are revealing the disturbing truth that they are not at all interested in real solutions for the immigration system which is what polls show Americans want.”