What it does.
The Laken Riley Act keeps Kansans safer by requiring ICE to detain unauthorized immigrants charged with theft, burglary, assault on a law enforcement officer, or any offense causing death or serious bodily injury. It also lets state attorneys general sue the federal government over enforcement failures. The bill is named for Laken Riley, the Georgia nursing student killed by an unauthorized immigrant in 2024.
The Senate passed S. 5 by a 64-35 vote on January 20, 2025. Doc voted yes. President Trump signed it into law on January 29, 2025, making it the first bill enacted in the second Trump administration.
The bill closes a documented gap: the offenses listed in S. 5 had previously not triggered mandatory ICE detention. The law-enforcement-officer assault clause was added late in the process at the request of major sheriffs' associations, including the Kansas Sheriffs' Association.