The Laken Riley Act Reminds Us: If a Law Is Named After Someone, It’s Probably Bad
There’s a popular mantra among skeptics of government power that goes like this: If a law is named after a person, it’s probably bad.
Usually pegged to a victim whose story is genuinely tragic, and for whom compassion is warranted, such legislation often gives lawmakers license to enact authoritarian policies while using a bill’s raw emotional packaging as both a shield from criticism and as ammunition to criticize those who don’t get on board.
The Laken Riley Act, which moved closer to passing the Senate on Friday, is no exception. Drafted in response to the death of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student murdered last year by an unlawful immigrant named Jose Ibarra, the bill has become a grab bag of draconian policies that have little, if anything, to do with Riley’s death, but will likely soon be enshrined into law in her name.
Prior to murdering Riley, Ibarra had been arrested for shoplifting. So the thrust of the bill begins there: It requires any undocumented immigrant to be held in federal detention without bail—they would not be granted a hearing by default—and be subject to deportation if they are arrested for a theft-related crime.
“ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will no longer have discretion to release individuals with those arrests, and will be required to hold them in detention without access to bond while they go through the removal process,” says Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. “That aspect of the bill also applies even if the person was later acquitted or had charges dropped.”
Article from Reason.com
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