The US House of Representatives approved this Tuesday a law that will facilitate the deportation of irregular migrants accused of minor and non-violent crimes. A measure that is in line with the increase in immigration repression that Donald Trump has promised and that, in this case, has gone ahead with the support of all Republican representatives but also 48 Democratic representatives.
The law is expected to go forward after having obtained bipartisan support in the Senate, which will address it this Friday. The rule is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student killed last year in Georgia by a migrant who had been arrested for shoplifting.
Although Donald Trump is not yet the president of the country, the rule is aimed at the speech maintained by the Republican candidate during the campaign promising to tighten the laws against irregular migration. It is just one milestone in a package of measures that are on track to be approved thanks to the majority that Republicans won in November in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The support of representatives of the Democratic party for this law that toughens the discourse on immigration has been read by some media, such as the New York Times, as a response to the defeat suffered by the party in November. Some representatives have chosen to modulate their speeches on issues such as immigration, advocating more severe positions.
In practice, the rule would mean that federal authorities would have to detain all undocumented immigrants accused of robbery or shoplifting. It is about expanding the list of charges that to date could lead to the deportation of these people.
Democrats who have criticized the measure claim that it is an unconstitutional law. In addition, they warn that it leaves it in the hands of conservative state attorneys general to dictate federal immigration policy.
Source: www.eldiario.es
