Under the proposed new measure, anti-immigrant state officials and federal judges would have new power to dictate immigration enforcement — including whether to detain individual migrants. The bill has already passed the House and is moving forward in the Senate with bipartisan support.
The Laken Riley Act specifically aims to overturn Supreme Court precedent and give states such as Texas the ability to bring the types of immigration lawsuits against the federal government that have been rejected by the courts, including conservative judges, legal experts say.