“They’ve been truly demagoguing an issue of a Georgia young woman who was killed, a Georgia young nursing student named Laken Riley. They’ve now passed a law called the Laken Riley Act. All Republican members and 37 Democrats voted in the House to support the bill,” she said. “The legislation requires the detention of any migrant who has been accused of burglary or theft. My understanding is that burglary and theft are already illegal. What does this law add to the current existing law? Is it just a messaging bill? Does it do anything or change anything? I will note for our audience overall crime is down this year across this country and migrant crime is negligible.”
Crime fell overall in 2023 with murders seeing an historic decline. Crime remains a concern in major cities like Chicago and New York City though. Chicago, for instance, saw a 13% drop in homicides in 2023, but the number of people killed is still one of the highest recorded in the last two decades. Robbery, theft and criminal sexual assault saw upticks in 2023 in the city.
Warnock called the Laken Riley Act “smoke and mirrors” and called for Republicans to support the bipartisan border bill backed by President Joe Biden.
“To answer your question succinctly, this is smoke and mirrors by people who are not serious. We had a bipartisan piece of legislation in front of us,” Warnock told Reid. “It had a lot of provisions, some provisions that some folks on my side didn’t like, but the only way to get comprehensive immigration reform, the only way to address the current crisis on the border in divided government is on a bipartisan basis. And so rather than demagoguing this tragic death by this young woman, they ought to get serious. And let’s pass some bipartisan legislation and deal with the crisis at the border.”