FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 22, 2025
Press Contact: Renee Garcia, rgarcia@immdef.org, media@immdef.org, 213-634-2186
ImmDef Denounces Passage of the Laken Riley Bill
Los Angeles, CA – Days after a barrage of Executive Orders that aim to tear apart American communities and create further dysfunction in our immigration system, the United States Congress has passed the Laken Riley Act. The bill eviscerates due process for undocumented people who are accused – not convicted – of certain low-level crimes like shoplifting, exposing them to indefinite detention. The new law perpetuates systemic inequities in both the immigration and criminal justice systems that unfairly target people of color. The bill includes no age limit and will inevitably lead to the detention of children who may be mistakenly accused of crimes they did not commit. Even brief detention is harmful to children and juvenile detention facilities have historically been sites of abuse and neglect. The Act also violates the U.S. Constitution by allowing anti-immigrant state officials to dictate federal immigration policy by giving state attorneys general unprecedented power to sue the federal government anytime they allege it is not properly implementing a wide array of immigration laws.
“Congress is rolling out the red carpet for an already emboldened anti-immigrant administration, giving the President more tools to criminalize, detain, and deport massive amounts of people while denying them their due process rights,” said Alvaro M. Huerta, Director of Litigation and Advocacy at ImmDef. “Perhaps the worst part is that this was accomplished with the support of dozens of Democrats who have abandoned immigrant communities for the sake of political expediency. For shame."
Margaret Cargioli, Directing Attorney, Policy and Advocacy, at ImmDef said, "The passage of the Laken Riley Act is shameful sign that immigrants are finding fewer champions in the halls of Congress. At a time when the Trump administration is orchestrating a clear abuse of power under the guise of some purported ‘invasion,’ we need Congress to defend immigrants’ due process rights, not disregard fundamental fairness. We also need Congress to protect children, not sacrifice them to the whims of an anti-immigrant administration. The continued vilification of immigrants only serves to harm American families, communities, and our economy.”
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The Immigrant Defenders Law Center (ImmDef) is a next-generation social justice law firm that defends immigrant communities against injustices in the immigration system. Our programs are a first step towards realizing the long-term goal of providing universal representation to all immigrants facing deportation. ImmDef is now the largest non‐profit, pro bono provider of deportation defense in California, with offices in Los Angeles, Riverside, Santa Ana, and San Diego.
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