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Hirono Introduces Amendments to Laken Riley Act to Clarify Mandatory Detention Provisions, Uphold Federal Immigration Decisions

~ Amendments would prohibit minors from being detained, stop the separation of families with children under the age of 16, and prevent states from suing the federal government for immigration decisions ~

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced five amendments to S.5, the Laken Riley Act. As it is currently written, the bill would change immigration and Constitutional law by empowering states to challenge immigration decisions made by the federal government and requiring U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain any undocumented individual who is charged with, arrested for, convicted of, or admits to theft or related crimes. It would also require ICE to ask local law enforcement to detain undocumented individuals currently within their custody who have committed such crimes.

Senator Hirono’s amendments aim to mitigate the harm caused by this legislation by prohibiting minors from being detained; stopping the separation of families with children under the age of 16; and preventing states from suing the federal government for immigration decisions.

“Our country desperately needs comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform,” said Senator Hirono. “Unfortunately, this bill would not improve our immigration system, and would have all sorts of unintended consequences for immigrants, our immigration system, and our communities. My amendments would mitigate some of the most troubling impacts of this bill, but there is no amendment that would adequately fix this poorly thought out piece of legislation.”

Specifically, Senator Hirono’s five amendments would:

  1. Exempt anyone who received a grant of deferred action through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or who came to the United States before the age of 16 from the mandatory detention section of the bill (Section 2), and prevents states from challenging the federal government’s decisions on the apprehension and detention of anyone who received a grant of deferred action through DACA or who came to the United States before the age of 16;
  2. Clarify that the mandatory detention section of the bill (Section 2) does not apply to any criminal charges, arrests, convictions, or acts admitted to have committed when the undocumented individual was under 18;
  3. Clarify that the mandatory detention section of the bill (Section 2) does not apply when the detention would result in the separation of anyone under 16 from their parents;
  4. Eliminate the section of the bill that allows states to challenge various federal immigration decisions (Section 3); and
  5. Require U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to issue annual public reports on the cost of implementing the mandatory detention section of the bill (Section 2), including the cost of contracts with private prisons, and the best estimates of the profit private companies make as a result of the section.

The full text of Senator Hirono’s submitted amendments are available here.

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