Trump Signs the Laken Riley Act, His First Law: 'America Will Never, Ever Forget Laken Hope Riley' (January 29, 2025)

“With today’s action, her name will also live forever in the laws of our country, and this is a very important law. This is something that has brought Democrats and Republicans together. That’s not easy to do. Laken did it,” Trump said [1].

The video above shows Trump’s remarks on Jan. 29, 2025. Quotes are from the American Presidency Project, GovInfo and the Clerk of the House [1][2][3][4].

”She Never Came Back”

Trump told her story. “Laken was a brilliant and beautiful 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia,” he said. “From the time she was in first grade, Laken knew she wanted to spend her time caring for others.” [1]

“Just after 9 a.m. last February 22, Laken went out for a jog on the campus of the University of Georgia, but she was—just never returned,” Trump said [1].

“While on her run, Laken was attacked, viciously assaulted, beaten, brutalized, and murdered by an illegal alien gang member who was set loose into our country by the last administration,” he said, with her mother, Allyson, her stepfather, John Phillips, and her sister, Lauren, in the room [1].

“America will never, ever forget Laken Hope Riley,” Trump said [1].

”Instead of Being Deported”

Trump said the killer should never have been free. “He trespassed across our southern border in 2022 and was apprehended by Border Patrol, but under the cruel policies of the last administration, instead of being deported as he should have been, he was released into the United States, as were millions of other people—many of them very dangerous people,” he said [1].

“He was soon arrested again in New York City on charges of endangering a child,” Trump said [1].

“The Biden administration then provided this illegal alien criminal with a free, taxpayer-funded flight from New York to Georgia, where he was arrested yet again—constantly—this time for stealing from a Walmart along with his gang member brother, who was a bad one,” Trump said [1].

“Under the law I’m signing today, the Department of Homeland Security will be required to detain all illegal aliens who have been arrested for theft, burglary, larceny, shoplifting, assaulting a police officer, murder, or any crime that results in death or a serious injury,” he said [1].

“30,000 Beds in Guantanamo”

Trump also announced an order on the naval base in Cuba. “Today, I’m also signing an Executive order to instruct the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to begin preparing the 30,000-person migrant facility at Guantanamo Bay,” he said [1].

“Some of them are so bad we don’t even trust the countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back, so we’re going to send them out to Guantanamo,” Trump said. “This will double our capacity immediately, right?” [1]

“They Will Be Terminated”

He opened with a warning to federal workers. “We have informed the Federal workforce, which they’ve looked to do for many years, that if they’re working for the Federal Government, they must show up to the office on time and on schedule,” Trump said [1].

“If they don’t agree by February 6 to show up back to work in their office, they will be terminated, and we will therefore be downscaling our Government, which is something that the last 10 Presidents have tried very hard to do but failed,” he said [1].

“In our first week in office, we set records, taking over 350 executive actions. That’s not been done before,” Trump said [1].

What the Law Says

The Laken Riley Act requires detention of illegal aliens who are charged with, arrested for or convicted of “any burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, or assault of a law enforcement officer offense, or any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person.” [2]

“The Secretary of Homeland Security shall issue a detainer for an alien described in paragraph (1)(E) and, if the alien is not otherwise detained by Federal, State, or local officials, shall effectively and expeditiously take custody of the alien,” it says [2].

It also lets a state’s attorney general sue the secretary of homeland security over failures to detain or remove that harm the state or its residents [2].

The Vote

The House had passed S. 5, the Laken Riley Act, on Jan. 22, 2025, by 263 to 156. Republicans voted 217 to 0 for it, joined by 46 Democrats; 156 Democrats voted no [3].

By the Numbers

22: Laken Riley’s age, per Trump [1].
263-156: the House vote passing the bill on Jan. 22, 2025 [3].
217-0: House Republicans for and against the bill [3].
30,000: beds at Guantanamo, per Trump [1].
350+: executive actions in Trump’s first week, per Trump [1].

What Happened Next

The first flights reached Guantanamo. A week later, on Feb. 5, 2025, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reported the result of Trump’s order. “The first flights arrived to Guantanamo Bay yesterday afternoon out of El Paso. And who were some of the passengers aboard you may ask. There were 10 members of the transnational gang Tren de Aragua on this flight,” she said [4].

For Karoline Leavitt on Laken Riley and Jocelyn Nungaray, see HYGO News’ page on March 17, 2025. For Joe Biden’s White House on calling Laken Riley’s family, see the page on Feb. 28, 2024.