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Ten Democrats joined Republicans in voting to advance the measure in a critical test vote that put it on track for quick enactment under President-elect Donald J. Trump.
- Jan. 17, 2025Updated 12:00 p.m. ET
The Senate on Friday cleared away the final major hurdle to enactment of legislation that would require the detention and deportation of undocumented migrants accused of minor crimes or assaulting a police officer, after several Democrats joined Republicans to advance it.
In a test vote of 61 to 35 that put the measure on a path to clear Congress within days, 10 Democrats teamed with Republicans to support moving to a final vote in the chamber, enough to surpass the 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster. That all but guaranteed that the legislation, which passed the House with bipartisan support last week, would make it to President-elect Donald J. Trump’s desk to be signed after he is sworn in on Monday.
It still must win approval in the Senate in a vote scheduled for late Monday afternoon, just hours after Mr. Trump takes office, and return to the House before heading to the White House.
The Senate action came after senators spent several days debating changes to the bill, a process that exposed deep divisions among Democrats over immigration as some in the party move to the right following their party’s electoral losses in November. The bill is the opening legislative move for Republicans in a broader push to crack down on immigration and significantly step up deportations, a promise that Mr. Trump made a centerpiece of his campaign.
It is named for Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed last year by a migrant who crossed into the United States illegally from Venezuela and who had previously been arrested for shoplifting, but had not been detained.
Republicans teed it up as the first of several border bills they hope to revive and enact when they cement their governing trifecta on Monday with Mr. Trump’s inauguration. A similar measure passed the House last year but died when the Democratic-led Senate declined to take it up. The G.O.P. also wants to resurrect measures to increase deportations, hold asylum seekers outside the United States and strip federal funding from cities that restrict their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agencies.
