The bill, named after a 22-year-old nursing student killed by an illegal immigrant, passed 263-156 with bipartisan support of 46 Democrats, two less than who voted for the legislation on Jan. 7.

The Senate approved the legislation on Monday in a 64-35 vote, with 12 Democrats joining on final passage, making it the first policy legislation of the 119th Congress. Due to the Senate offering and passing amendments to the Laken Riley Act, the bill had to be sent back to the House to approve the changes before heading to the White House.

Trump is all but assured to sign the bill, which will allow federal authorities to detain illegal immigrants who have committed theft-related crimes, as well as give states the ability to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration.

Among the changes included expanding the scope to include the assault of a law enforcement officer and crimes that result in the death “or serious bodily injury of another person,” the latter known as Sarah’s Law.

Sarah’s Law is named after Sarah Root, 21, who was allegedly killed by Edwin Mejia, an illegal immigrant driving intoxicated three times over the legal limit. Mejia was released on bond more than a week after the incident due to a loophole in federal law, and authorities have not located him since.

The bill has been introduced multiple times over the years, with Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) beginning in 2016 and Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-IA) sponsoring the legislation in 2021.

Feenstra said in a statement to the Washington Examiner he was “thrilled” his bill was included in the Laken Riley Act after “years of advocacy.”

“Sarah’s Law not only delivers justice for the Root family but also ensures that any illegal immigrant who harms or kills an American citizen is swiftly detained and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Feenstra said. “With President Trump in the White House, we will continue to secure our border, build the wall, and combat heinous crimes committed by illegal immigrants.”

The Laken Riley Act was one of the first legislative tests for Democrats coming off a stinging 2024 election where immigration and border security were at the forefront for working-class voters. Several Democrats have argued that there needs to be support for broader asylum and immigration reforms instead of Republicans pushing political bills they believe do little to fix the underlying problems.

“It doesn’t have anything to do with immigration, right? It doesn’t have the word ‘border’ in the bill a single time,” said Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairman Greg Casar (D-TX), who voted no on both votes of the Laken Riley Act.

“Laken Riley’s killer was tried and convicted and sentenced to life in prison — and he should be convicted and held accountable for this horrific killing,” Casar added. “But the Laken Riley Act has nothing to do with her. The Laken Riley Act is a policy change to make it so that potentially innocent people who are only accused of a crime but never convicted of a crime can be deported. That’s what the bill does.”

The caucus fracturing over the Laken Riley Act vote signifies that Democrats are on shifting sands when it comes to immigration and trying to reel back in voters who turned to Trump and Republicans in November, granting them a GOP trifecta.

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), who narrowly won her 2024 reelection and represents a swing district, voted in favor.

However, progressive members like Casar and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are not backing down and continue to hammer Republicans on the contents of the bill, calling it a “fundamental erosion of our civil rights.”

“It is shameful, it is absolutely shameful,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “In a few months, there are members of Congress who voted for this bill who are going to pretend they didn’t know about all the bad things that are going to happen because of it. So when a private prison camp opens in your town, and they say, ‘I didn’t know this was gonna happen,’ know that they did, and they voted for it.”

On the House floor, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) praised the diversity of the neighborhoods in her district and others, noting her constituents and others are scared.

“Literally militarization of border patrol, officials everywhere, people just scared and petrified because that’s what’s exactly happening — because this bill promotes racial profiling,” Tlaib said in a fiery speech.

“We’ve ignored and vilified immigrants,” she added. “Enough is enough.”