President-elect Donald Trump has made a lot of promises on immigration. Now it’s time to see how they fare.
Once he takes office again later this month, Trump will see those promises collide with his own party’s ability to govern and Americans’ low appetite for his most extreme proposals. But for now, the first test will be whether Democrats take the bait on immigration legislation that only makes things worse.
On Friday, the Senate is set to take up the Laken Riley Act, a bill named after a Georgia nursing student who was murdered by a Venezuelan citizen who was in the United States illegally.
The GOP-led House passed its version of the legislation on Tuesday, making it the first bill passed during the 119th Congress. The bill passed with the support of nearly 50 House Democrats, many of them from swing districts. In the Senate, Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania are co-sponsoring the legislation. A handful of Senate Democrats, many from states Trump won in November, are also backing the bill.
The bill would require federal law enforcement to detain undocumented immigrants over charges of nonviolent crimes, including shoplifting. (The Department of Homeland Security already has the authority to detain any undocumented person facing deportation proceedings, including those charged with a criminal offense.) The Laken Riley Act makes that detention mandatory, meaning there is no opportunity to even request release on bond.
The proposed legislation also gives state attorneys general standing to challenge the federal government over a range of immigration-related issues. States could file lawsuits against the federal government over immigration enforcement “if the State or its residents experience harm, including financial harm in excess of $100.”
Just imagine how Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton might use this new power.
Just imagine how Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton might use this new power. The legislation will create more legal chaos, impairing the executive branch’s ability to craft and implement immigration policy. Does any of that make Americans safer?
Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas voted against the bill, arguing it would require the federal government to indefinitely detain immigrants — including DACA recipients — even if they have not been charged with a crime. Immigration advocacy groups are also blasting the bill as a tool to undermine civil rights.
The Laken Riley Act is also just the beginning of a new era of immigration policy for the United States. Axios reports Trump plans to roll out 100 new executive orders at the start of his presidency. Many of these new orders are aimed at enforcing his crackdown on immigration, including a move to reinstate the Covid-era Title 42 policy, which would restrict asylum claims. If congressional Democrats are facing an early test, then President Joe Biden is facing, well, a test. Immigrant rights groups are urging Biden to expand temporary protected status to select groups of migrants legally living in the United States. The New York Times reports the Biden administration is considering extending TPS protections to hundreds of thousands of migrants who escaped humanitarian crises and political instability in their home countries. This legal status would make it harder for Trump to deport these migrants once he takes office. There is no doubt that Americans are eager to see changes to our immigration system. But if Democrats believe their constituents are so eager to see those changes that they are willing to trample on the principles of due process and impair the executive branch’s ability to make immigration policy moving forward, then they are complicit in making the necessary reforms even harder to achieve. For more thought-provoking insights from Michael Steele, Alicia Menendez and Symone Sanders-Townsend, watch “The Weekend” every Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. ET on MSNBC.
Alicia Menendez
Alicia Menendez is a co-host of "The Weeknight," which airs Monday through Friday at 7 p.m. ET on MSNBC. She is also the host of the “Latina to Latina” podcast and the author of “The Likeability Trap: How to Break Free and Succeed As You Are.”
Lynox Norman
Lynox Norman is a segment producer for "The Weekend" on MSNBC. 
