Congress passes immigrant detention bill in first legislative win for Trump

The House voted on Wednesday to pass a GOP-led bill to require detention of undocumented migrants charged with certain crimes, handing an early legislative win to President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, who chose to bring up the measure as their first bill of the new Congress.

The House voted on Wednesday to pass a GOP-led bill to require detention of undocumented migrants charged with certain crimes, handing an early legislative win to President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans, who chose to bring up the measure as their first bill of the new Congress. The bill – called the Laken Riley Act – will next go to the White House to be signed into law after the Senate approved the measure earlier in the week. The House vote was 263 to 156 with 46 Democrats voting in favor. Republicans made the legislation a top priority after winning the House, Senate and White House, but the bill would not have been able to advance to final passage in the Senate without support from key Democrats as Republicans control only a narrow majority. Passage of the bill comes as Trump has vowed to make an immigration crackdown a centerpiece of his agenda, and it gives Republicans a legislative achievement within the first week of the president’s return to the White House. But the bill faces major obstacles to implementation as federal officials have warned lawmakers that existing resources are insufficient to execute the law. The fact that the bill won significant support from Democrats signals a notable shift for the party in the aftermath of Trump’s presidential win as Democrats from competitive states and districts say the party must do more to address voter concerns over immigration. The legislation exposed a rift within the party, however, as some Democrats called it a common-sense measure while others argued itthreatens to undermine civil liberties, due process and public safety.