Wisconsin U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin says she opposes the Laken Riley Act, a bill that would mandate the deportation of illegal immigrants when they are arrested for a host of serious crimes.
Baldwin made the comments on “The Maggie Daun Show” on Civic Media, which is growing a network of liberal talk shows in Wisconsin. She indicated that she wants amendments or she won’t support it.
“I think that the bill itself, sadly, is flawed in how it is written and that it needs to be perfected,” Baldwin, a liberal Democrat, said on the show. She reiterated that she believes the “underlying bill is, as drafted, is flawed. And I wouldn’t support it in its current form.”
Meanwhile, the police chief in Beloit, Wisconsin, released a statement refusing to cooperate with ICE in some instances where illegal immigrants commit crimes.
Baldwin has a history of refusing to protect the public when it comes to illegal immigration. She previously voted against “Kate’s law,” named for Kate Steinle. That bill that would have created tougher criminal penalties for terrorists and aggravated felon illegal immigrants who are repeatedly deported but cross the border illegally again. She even demanded the release of illegal transgender immigrants into U.S. communities.
She has supported sanctuary cities multiple times over the years.
According to Civic Media, Baldwin voted to bring the Laken Riley act to the floor of the Senate for a vote and advocated for a “much broader discussion about immigration, about border security and I’m hopeful, as we take up the first measure we’re going to take up during this session, that my Republican colleagues, who have just taken the majority in the Senate, are going to be willing to look at amendments, have a broader discussion about DREAMers, about border security, about really important topics that we must tackle.”
Her comments come after Wisconsin Congressmen Mark Pocan and Congresswoman Gwen Moore voted against passage of the Laken Riley Act on Jan. 7, according to a vote tally published by the U.S. House. The measure passed the House and will now go to a vote in the Senate.
The act toughens immigration enforcement by mandating that the federal government detain illegal immigrants committed of certain crimes; it also allows states to sue the federal government for lax immigration enforcement.
The bill was named after Riley, a Georgia college student who was brutally murdered by a Venezuelan man who was paroled in the US by the Biden-Harris Administration.
Pocan and Moore also previously voted against a bill that calls for the deportation of illegal immigrants who are convicted of sex crimes, according to that U.S. House roll call vote.
According to the U.S. House, the bill “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, or shoplifting. The bill also authorizes states to sue the federal government for decisions or alleged failures related to immigration enforcement.”
“Under this bill, 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 burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting,” the site continues,” it continues.
According to the Hill, Riley’s killer “avoided a conviction on shoplifting after being sent to a diversion program.” The Hill added that opponents of the bill argue it affects people who were arrested or charged even if they weren’t convicted yet.
“The bill 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.”