Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) expressed his willingness Thursday to work with the Republicans on an immigration bill, but said he is not willing to make imprisonment mandatory for immigrants before they are convicted of a crime.
Kim’s statement comes as the Laken-Riley Act is expected to be the first measure likely to come up for a vote in the new Senate.
The bill would mandate undocumented immigrants accused of theft, burglary and other similar crimes be imprisoned.
“All of us should be in full agreement that individuals who are convicted of committing crimes face consequences, and it is already law that undocumented immigrants that are convicted of felonies face detention and deportation,” Senator Kim said.
“Mandating detention for those facing accusations before they go before our judicial system runs counter to our Constitution. I do believe we have to urgently take bipartisan action to fix our broken immigration system, and I stand ready to work across the aisle to get the job done. Let’s start from a foundation grounded in our Constitution.”
So far six Democrats have indicated they will support the bill, reports The Hill,
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has signed on as a co-sponsor of the Laken-Riley Act.
“Pretend that you’re in a parking lot at Walmart in Scranton, and it’s like, ‘Well, I’m going to vote against the bill that allows people to deport people that were charged of crimes or they have a criminal record.’ How do you think that would go over?” Fetterman said to Politico. “That’s why we lose if you want to try to make that argument.”
The support from Fetterman and five other Democrats signals a shift in the party as the electorate appears to be swinging to the right.
A new survey just released by the Asian American Institute for Public Policy indicates 36% support among AAPI voters nationally for mass deportation. 39% are opposed and 25% describe themselves as neutral.
A coalition of Korean American groups recently condemned the House passge of the Laken Riley Bill, 264-159.
“NAKASEC emphatically condemns the Laken Riley bill as deeply harmful and destabilizing to Black, Brown, Asian, and immigrant communities – and broader American society,” said Daniel Yoon of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium. “The bill falsely conflates immigration and criminality and is particularly extreme because it applies mandatory immigration detention to people who have not been convicted or even charged with a crime. Accusations, not convictions, are not sufficient to detain a person. The truth is, there is no correlation between citizenship or immigration status and crime; and we denounce the continued attempts to create one.”
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