Letitia James Releases Letter Urging U.S. Senate to Reject the Laken Riley Act

Letitia James Releases Letter Urging U.S. Senate to Reject the Laken Riley Act

Editorial credit: Glynnis Jones / Shutterstock.com

On January 16, New York State Attorney General Letitia James issued a letter, signed by herself, eight other state attorneys general, as well as various elected officials, law enforcement leaders, and clerical figures, urging the U.S. Senate to reject the Laken Riley Act.

January 16, 2025  

Dear Members of the U.S. Senate: 

As members of law enforcement, faith leaders, and elected officials, we write to express our  profound and urgent concerns with a bill currently before the Senate, S.5 or the Laken Riley Act, and  urge you to vote “no.” This legislation goes against our fundamental values and will undermine  rather than promote public safety.  

S.5 requires the detention, without a bond hearing, of any undocumented person arrested for or  charged with “any burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting offense” – a conviction is not required. This  detention mandate would even ensnare long-time residents, minors, and many who are lawfully  present including DREAMers.  

It offends basic due process and fair treatment to impose prolonged civil detention on the basis of  accusations alone. The very lynchpin of our criminal justice system is innocence until proven guilty,  and this law would prevent the proper administration of justice by sweeping people into immigration  detention before their cases can be tried and heard. 

We are especially concerned about how this law could be weaponized by domestic abusers. In  domestic violence situations, it is common for the perpetrator to make false accusations of property  theft against their victim, resulting in an arrest of both people after an abusive incident. Even if  charges against the victim are not pursued, ICE would be required to jail the victim if they lacked  immigration status. The threat of ICE detention would become another tool of control in domestic  violence situations and will certainly deter victims from coming forward. 

Taken together, the impact of the law will be to undermine trust in law enforcement and hinder the  pursuit of justice in the criminal system. 

And the law is unnecessary. Federal law already grants the authority to Immigration and Customs  Enforcement to detain noncitizens facing removal proceedings who have convictions for certain  crimes or are believed to pose a public safety risk. Indeed, ICE itself has indicated that the mandate  to detain all the people swept up by this legislation would overwhelm their capacity and require the  release of others in its custody that they previously found warranted detention. 

The law would also grant extensive powers to state attorneys general to enforce the detention  requirements and interfere in many other aspects of immigration law. This will give rise to a cascade of contentious litigation that would clog federal courts and upend our existing immigration  processes. 

It is unfortunate that a tragic and devastating incidence of violence against a young woman, Laken  Riley, has led to this harmful proposal. We urge Senators to vote “no” on S.5. 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.