House Republicans push bill to arrest migrants accused of theft after Georgia student killed

By STEPHEN GROVES
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a bill that would require federal authorities to detain unauthorized immigrants who have been accused of theft. Republicans are seizing on the recent death of a nursing student in Georgia to rebuke President Joe Biden’s border policies just hours ahead of his State of the Union address. After 22-year-old Laken Riley, an Augusta University student, was killed late last month while on a morning run, Republicans rushed the “Laken Riley Act” to the House floor to coincide with Biden’s annual address. The legislation passed, but the nine-page bill was designed more to deliver a political point than to enact law and has little chance of being taken up in the Democratic-controlled Senate.