This bill became law on 2025-01-29 as Public Law No. 119-1.
The summary below describes the bill at the version we last reviewed; the enacted text may differ.
YourVoice.Now Summary
Civil LibertiesCriminal Justice & Due ProcessTransparency & AccountabilityPeople without legal status charged with theft must now be detained — no conviction needed — and states can sue to force it.
Civil Liberties
Before this change, required detention mostly covered people convicted of serious crimes. Now a charge, an arrest, or an admission is enough, and there is no bond while the case goes on.
Federal law says the State Department must stop granting visas to a country that will not take back people ordered removed. States can now sue when that does not happen, and a cutoff would reach that country's students, workers, and families.
Criminal Justice & Due Process
The full list is burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, assault of a police officer, and any crime that kills or badly injures someone. It applies to people who entered without permission, lacked valid entry papers, or gained a benefit by fraud.
The agency must file a detainer, which is a request that a jail hold the person. If no other agency is holding them, Homeland Security must pick them up quickly.
Words like theft and shoplifting carry the meaning used where the acts happened. The same conduct can lead to detention in one state and not in another.
Transparency & Accountability
A state attorney general can sue Homeland Security or the Attorney General over releases, bond, parole, missed inspections, or a failure to remove someone. The state only needs to show money harm above $100, and courts must hear the case fast.
Immigration law had blocked courts from second-guessing a choice to release someone or to grant bond. That shield is gone, though decisions to keep someone locked up stay off limits.
Another part of immigration law normally stops judges from blocking these rules for whole groups of people. That limit does not apply to the new state lawsuits.
More about this bill
Most people will notice no change in daily life. For people living here without legal status, the change is large. Since January 29, 2025, Homeland Security must detain them if they are charged with certain crimes. The list covers theft, shoplifting, larceny, burglary, and assault of a police officer. It also covers any crime that kills or badly injures someone. A conviction is not needed. An arrest or a charge is enough. What counts as theft or shoplifting depends on the state where the acts happened. The law also lets state attorneys general sue the federal government in court. They can sue over a choice to release someone, or to grant bond or parole. They can also sue when the government does not detain or remove someone. A state can bring the case by showing money harm of more than $100. Judges must move these cases ahead of others on the calendar.
Congressional Summary
Laken Riley Act This act requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain certain non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) who have been arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, assault of a law enforcement officer, or any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person. The act also authorizes states to sue the federal government for decisions or alleged failures related to immigration enforcement. Under this act, DHS must detain an individual who (1) is unlawfully present in the United States or did not possess the necessary documents when applying for admission; and (2) has been charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or admits to having committed acts that constitute the essential elements of the above crimes. The act also authorizes state governments to sue for injunctive relief over certain immigration-related decisions or alleged failures by the federal government if the decision or failure caused the state or its residents harm, including financial harm of more than $100. Specifically, the state government may sue the federal government over a decision to release a non-U.S. national from custody; failure to fulfill requirements relating to inspecting individuals seeking admission into the United States, including requirements related to asylum interviews; failure to fulfill a requirement to stop issuing visas to nationals of a country that unreasonably denies or delays acceptance of nationals of that country; violation of limitations on immigration parole, such as the requirement that parole be granted only on a case-by-case basis; or failure to detain an individual who has been ordered removed from the United States.
Legislative Subjects
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Public Law
- Action Date
- 2025-01-29
- Date Added
- 2026-06-23
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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