Today MALDEF sent a letter to the United States Senate opposing Senate Bill 5 known as the “Laken Riley Act”
Dear Senator:
On behalf of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), I urge you to vote no on S. 5, the “Laken Riley Act.” This misguided bill seeks to exploit the tragic murder of an innocent woman by scapegoating immigrants in the interest of political gain, but it will fail to make our communities safer.
This bill would require ICE to detain undocumented immigrants who have been arrested or charged — even if not convicted — of certain crimes, such as shoplifting and theft, in addition to individuals convicted of those crimes. These individuals would also not have access to bond. Such an expansion of mandatory detention would reverse our justice system’s longstanding presumption of innocence, threatens individual due process rights, and raises grave Constitutional concerns. Furthermore, for individuals ultimately convicted of these crimes, this mandatory detention could result in a de facto incarceration much greater than the sentence imposed by state courts. The executive branch already retains discretionary authority to detain these individuals, and any added requirement could result in a drastic expansion of detention and would interfere with the executive branch’s policy decisions over the best use of its detention space. Any expansion of detention would disproportionately fall on Latino immigrants.
Additionally, this bill would provide individual states with standing to bring litigation against the federal government, regardless of whether the state indeed has an injury or legitimate interest, where there is simply a disagreement with the executive branch’s policy actions. These provisions would disrupt the Constitution’s allocation of plenary power over immigration and foreign affairs to the federal government. The executive branch’s decision-making regarding detention, inspection of individuals seeking admission, humanitarian parole, and granting visas to countries denying or unreasonably delaying the return of its nationals would be subject to challenge. This bill would remove the executive branch’s control over immigration, regardless of the party in power, and place it in the hands of state governments, and it would move oversight of the executive branch’s immigration policy to state governments from Congress.
Furthermore, the bill’s requirement that courts “advance” these cases on their docket and “expedite the disposition” of these cases would impact federal courts’ already substantial caseloads and the due process rights of other litigants in federal court.
S. 5 will only result in more chaos for our immigration system, and it provides no solutions to the problems it identifies. Critically, the expansion of detention envisioned by this bill would unfairly target Latino immigrants. Finally, it would allow state governments to interfere with the discretion exercised by presidents of both parties in their exercise of the immigration and foreign affair powers granted to them by Congress and the Constitution. MALDEF urges you to vote no on S.5 as it raises serious logistical, constitutional, and due process concerns, and to instead focus on crafting a fair and humane immigration system that recognizes the worth of all immigrants.