A Democratic congresswoman says she regrets voting for the Laken Riley Act.
Rep. Jahana Hayes of Connecticut said during a CNN town hall Thursday that after thinking about it, she would now vote “differently.”
The legislation, named after a Georgia nursing student killed by a Venezuelan man who’d crossed the border illegally, was passed in January. It requires the Department of Homeland Security to detain undocumented immigrants accused of breaches of the law, ranging from theft to violent crimes.
Hayes said she voted for it because of a provision stating that individuals could be snared by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if an attack “caused injury or death to a police officer.” But, she told the network’s Kaitlan Collins, that provision “was one small piece of it.”
“As I’ve thought about it over the past couple of months, I probably would have voted differently. It’s a vote that I regret,” she said. Collins called her response “notable.”
Hayes added that she thought when the bill was signed into law Trump and his new administration were committed to working alongside their Democratic colleagues on securing the country’s southern border.
“[Now, I’m] not really sure of that because I’ve seen the rhetoric that has come out and the attacks that have been targeted toward immigrants. So I am very cautious and careful when I am negotiating my votes moving forward.”
She added that immigrants, including those here legally who have followed the law, are being “terrorized right now because they are unsure of what happens next.”
Hayes appeared at the town hall alongside fellow Democrat Derek Tran. The California representative was asked a question from a member of the public who was concerned about whether “due process exists still in America.”
“Given your background both as an attorney and also the son of immigrants like myself, what made you vote yes on that?” engineer Johnny Nguyen, a Democrat voter, asked.
Tran, the son of Vietnamese immigrants, said while he has sympathy for those affected, he “draws the line when it comes to crime.”
Some 46 Democrats joined Republicans in the House to vote for the Laken Riley Act. In the Senate, 12 Democrats gave their support to pass the legislation.
