In her first vote as a member of Congress, New Hampshire Democrat Maggie Goodlander broke her party to help pass the Laken Riley Act.
The brutal murder of Laken Riley inspired the Laken Riley Act, which Goodlander’s predecessor Rep. Annie Kuster voted against last year. Rep. Chris Pappas voted for the bill both times it came to the House floor.
Last year the vote was 251-170, including 37 Democrats. Every Republican voted for it.
On Tuesday it passed 264-159 with 48 Democratic votes. Republicans plan to bring it to the floor of the U.S. Senate on Friday, which would also have been Riley’s 23rd birthday.
Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was murdered last February by José Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old illegal alien from Venezuela, while she was jogging at the University of Georgia in Athens. Ibarra had been arrested in 2022 after entering the U.S. illegally. The Biden administration then allowed him to be “paroled and released for further processing,” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.
Ibarra was later arrested by New York City police in September 2023– less than six months before killing Riley — and charged with “acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and a motor vehicle license violation,” according to ICE.
Ibarra was arrested again, along with his brother, a month later for allegedly shoplifting at a Walmart in Athens. But because the crime was a misdemeanor, he was released. The Laken Riley Act would require ICE to detain illegal aliens like Ibarra who commit theft-related crimes.
Immigration was a top issue for voters in 2024, including in New Hampshire’s race for governor. Goodlander’s opponent, Republican Lily Tang Williams, also campaigned hard on the issue, making the case that lax enforcement is both dangerous for the community and unfair to people who legally immigrated to the U.S. as she did. (Tang Williams is a native of China.)
During her campaign for Congress, Goodlander repeatedly pledged to be an “independent” and “bipartisan” voice in Washington — particularly on the issue of immigration and border security.
During an interview with Adam Sexton on WMUR last month, Goodlander touted her work as a staffer for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his efforts to push a bipartisan immigration bill.
“As I said on the campaign trail, I continue to be really focused on finding common ground and bipartisan solutions, and that’s the spirit in which I’m going to work,” Goodlander said regarding immigration.
“The Laken Riley Act, holds the Biden administration accountable for their role in these tragedies through their open border policies, requires detention of illegal aliens who commit theft and mandates ICE take them into custody,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Monday. “And it allows a state to sue the Federal government on behalf of their citizens for not enforcing the border laws, particularly in the case of parole.”
Last March, both U.S. Sens. Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen joined the Democratic majority to keep the Laken Riley Act out of a $1.2 trillion spending bill, one of several votes they cast opposing increased immigration enforcement.
