The US Senate moved forward with the Laken Riley Act on Friday, achieving a significant procedural milestone. The Laken Riley Act is poised to become the first piece of legislation passed by the 119th Congress, marking an early win for President-elect Donald Trump on a key priority for his second term.

Senators voted 61-35 in favour of the bill, which mandates the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain immigrants without legal status who have been charged in the US with theft, burglary and other specified crimes.

The legislation is expected to pass the Senate in the coming days, setting it up to become the first bill passed by the 119th Congress. However, due to amendments to the bill, it must return to the House for a final vote before being sent to incoming President Donald Trump for his signature.

The bill is named after Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student from Augusta University who was tragically murdered in Georgia last year by a migrant living in the US without legal status.

Riley's murder captured national attention in the immigration debate after it was revealed that her killer, Jose Antonio Ibarra, was a Venezuelan citizen who had unlawfully entered the country through the US-Mexico border in 2022.

The bill cleared the House last week with a vote of 264-159, with 48 Democrats supporting Republicans. The Democratic backing primarily came from representatives of states Trump carried in the 2024 election, including Arizona’s Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, Georgia’s Jon Ossoff, Michigan’s Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin, Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, and New Hampshire’s Maggie Hassan.

The Republican Party and Donald Trump highlighted Riley's death during the presidential election, using it as a rallying point to advocate for stricter immigration policies along the southern border.