S.Amdt. 53

Mr. Kaine and several other senators submitted this amendment, known as the Laken Riley Act, to change how the government handles certain non-citizens. If passed, it replaces the entire text of the original bill.

Key Changes and Additions

• Mandatory Detention: It requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to take specific non-citizens into custody and issue a detainer for them if they are inadmissible under certain sections of the law and have been convicted of a crime resulting in serious bodily injury, convicted of burglary, theft, or larceny, or arrested/charged with those crimes and ordered removed in absentia or subject to a bench warrant for failing to appear.

• Age Protections for Children: It states that no child younger than 16 years old can be detained under those specific criminal or arrest provisions. It also prevents 17 or 18-year-olds from being detained unless the Secretary of Homeland Security decides they are a danger to the community or a flight risk based on available evidence.

• Right to a Hearing: It allows any non-citizen detained for longer than 3 months under these new rules to ask for a custody determination hearing before an immigration judge, who can set bond or release conditions only after deciding the person is not a danger to the community.