Senate passes border crackdown bill, rushing final House vote

The Senate on Monday approved a bill that would mandate detentions and potential expulsions of undocumented migrants accused of certain crimes, putting it on track to clear Congress this week and be signed by President Trump.

In a 64-35 vote just hours after Mr. Trump’s inauguration, 12 Democrats joined Republicans in approving the bill, reflecting a growing bipartisan consensus around cracking down on those who entered into the country without authorization.

That sent the measure back to the House, which passed it with bipartisan support this month and is expected to give it final approval this week. That virtually guaranteed that the legislation would be quickly signed by Mr. Trump, who began his immigration crackdown promise on Monday as he began his second term.

The bill, called the Laken Riley Act, is named after a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed last year by a migrant who entered the United States illegally from Venezuela and had previously been arrested in a shoplifting case, but had not been arrested.

The bill’s passage in the Senate came after Republicans and Democrats spent the past week debating amendments to the bill, a process that exposed deep divisions among Democrats on immigration as some members of the party were moving to the right after their party’s electoral defeats in November. The bill was Republicans’ first piece of legislation in a broader push to crack down on immigration and significantly ramp up deportations, a promise Mr. Trump has made a centerpiece of his campaign.

The legislation directs federal officials to detain illegal immigrants arrested or charged with burglary, theft or shoplifting, expanding the list of charges that would subject migrants to detention and possible deportation. Senators added assault on a police officer and crimes resulting in death or serious bodily injury to the expanded list.