The Laken Riley Act, a bipartisan measure to crack down on illegal immigration, is set to clear the House on Wednesday and land on Trump’s desk on just his third day in office.

“What’s important is that we are showing to the American public what we’ve heard this last election — people like me and [Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ)] — that we’re going to work in a bipartisan manner to bring commonsense solutions to border security,” Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), a Democratic co-sponsor, told the Washington Examiner.

Trump secured his 2024 comeback win by relentlessly campaigning on curbing illegal immigration and excoriating Democrats’ policies he claimed led to a surge in migrant crime, such as the killing of the bill’s namesake. Nearly a year after Riley’s murder, Trump will sign his first bill not only on his signature issue but with bipartisan backing.

The bill would require federal authorities to detain illegal immigrants arrested, charged, or convicted of theft-related and violent offenses until they are deported.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), the bill’s other Democratic co-sponsor who recently met with Trump, downplayed his recent streak of working across the aisle, which has put him in the spotlight.

“Agreeing with Republican points doesn’t mean I’m becoming a Republican,” he said.

The Laken Riley Act, which did not receive a vote in the Democratic-led Senate last year and secured only nominal support among the party, is now backed by dozens of Democrats on Capitol Hill. It cleared the Senate this week with the help of 12 Democrats and the House earlier this month with 48 Democrats. The House will pass an amended version that was returned by the Senate.

The policy shift has fueled accusations of playing politics rather than a genuine adaptation to constituent frustrations.

“Democrats aren’t handing Trump a win. They’re avoiding themselves a defeat,” said Autry Pruitt, chairman of the conservative New Journey PAC. “If they could figure out a way to vote against this in certain areas and still hold on to their seats and hold on to their power, they would. But they can’t.”

“They have reelections coming up. They see the world turning. It is the Trump era, at least for the next couple of years, so they’re going to play it safe,” added Angie Wong, a Miami GOP committeewoman and Florida delegate.

Several Democrats opposed to the bill lacked the appetite to discuss their colleagues’ embrace of legislation they contend threatens due process rights and could subject minors and those brought to the country illegally by their parents to baseless charges mandating detention.

“I’m not a pundit,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said.  

“I don’t get into talking about what my colleagues did or didn’t do,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said. He felt the legislation “raised a very legitimate issue” but that it was “written very poorly because it premised everything off an arrest rather than a conviction.”

Many Democrats also vehemently opposed a provision that would empower state attorneys general to bring lawsuits more easily against the federal government over its handling of illegal immigration.

Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) declined to opine why several of his members supported a proposal they once opposed.

“You’d have to ask them,” Durbin, who sought to include exemptions for “Dreamers,” told the Washington Examiner.

Like most Democrats, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) initially voted to advance the bill in the hope of amending it but later opposed moving to final passage when changes were rejected by Republicans. Warnock then voted in favor of its passage.

Prompted on his differing voting positions, Warnock contended, “I didn’t change my vote.”

The act is named after the 22-year-old nursing student killed last year while jogging at the University of Georgia by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant who was previously arrested but released. Its passage marks the start of a broader Republican strategy to hold votes on “targeted” policies that force Democrats to side with them, according to a senior GOP aide. The Senate, for example, plans to vote on House-passed legislation that restricts transgender athletes in women’s sports.

But conservative activists are also pushing Hill GOP leaders to put forward more far-reaching proposals that align with Trump’s agenda.

THE PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES WITH TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION PLAN

Jeremy Beck, vice president of NumbersUSA, a group that advocates reducing legal and illegal immigration levels, made the case that securing the southern border and curtailing illegal entries will take additional congressional action to complement the sweeping crackdown Trump is attempting to undertake by declaring a national emergency.

“The Laken Riley Act is a good bill. It is a modest, bipartisan first step toward reversing the historic flow of inadmissible aliens who were admitted over the last four years,” Beck said. “But it’s not going to accomplish the goal that the voters asked for all by itself.”