A new bill — the Laken Riley Act — passed by Republicans, is set to “hand state attorneys general, like Ken Paxton in Texas, veto power over large swaths of federal immigration policy,” according to American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick.Named after Laken Riley, a 19-year-old who was killed last year by Venezuelan migrant Jose Ibarra, the bill’s latest provision — Reichlin-Melnick writes for MSNBC — has received “little attention,” but should be getting more. “Federal courts in places like Texas and Louisiana could hear lawsuits seeking to impose sweeping bans on all visas from countries such as India and China,” the immigration policy expert writes, adding, “State officials could also seek court orders forcing the government to deport a specific individual without the sign-off of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.”READ MORE: Nearly 54% of extreme conservatives say the federal government should use violence to stop illegal immigrationFurthermore, Reichlin-Melnick notes that “the bill’s provisions impact all migrants, regardless of criminal background,” and “would create a brand new ground of ‘mandatory detention’ for some undocumented immigrants arrested for any theft offense — without waiting to see if they are convicted or acquitted of the crime.”The senior fellow concludes, “Giving a state attorney general veto power over everything from visa bans to individual release decisions made by ICE and Customs and Border Protection officers, threatens to make the entire immigration system even more chaotic than it already is.”READ MORE: ‘Trump no longer in control’: GOP fearful that MAGA base will kill public supportReichlin-Melnick’s full op-ed is available at this link.
