The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has marked the one-year anniversary of the Laken Riley Act, which was signed into law by President Trump on January 29, 2025.
The Laken Riley Act requires federal authorities to detain non-citizens who are accused of specific crimes, including theft, burglary, assaulting law enforcement officers, and offenses that result in death or serious bodily harm. According to DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested more than 21,400 individuals accused under these provisions in the past year.
The act is named after a nursing student from Georgia who was killed by an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela. The suspect had previously been detained by the New York Police Department for endangering a minor but was released back into the community before committing the murder.
“Thank you, President Trump, for signing the Laken Riley Act,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. “President Trump has empowered us to arrest and remove the millions of violent criminal illegal aliens unleashed on the United States by the previous administration. Now, these criminals will face justice and be removed from our country. We can never bring Laken back, but we can do everything in our power to bring these heinous criminals to justice. I am so proud of what our brave men and women of ICE have done to remove these criminals from America’s streets.”
DHS highlighted several cases involving non-citizens convicted of serious crimes such as homicide, sexual assault, robbery, larceny, aggravated assault on police officers, drug offenses, kidnapping, and cruelty toward children. The agency stated that those arrested under this act represent a range of nationalities including Cuba, Mexico, Jamaica, India, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Iraq.
The department maintains that its enforcement efforts under the Laken Riley Act aim to address public safety concerns related to crime committed by non-citizens who entered or remained in the country without legal authorization.
