US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he directed the opening of a detention center in Guantanamo Bay to contain up to 30,000 migrants who live illegally in the United States.
Trump made this announcement just before signing the law of Laken Riley as the first legislation of his administration. The bipartite measurement means that people who are illegally in the United States and are accused of theft and violent crimes should be detained and potentially expelled before a conviction.
The measure quickly adopted the new congress under the control of the Republican with democratic support even if the defenders of the rights of immigrants said that this could perhaps lead to large shootings of people for infractions as minor as the flight to the display. Trump promised that his administration will lead the greatest mass expulsion effort in the history of the United States.
Trump, who recognized the White House by explaining the anger of the public in the face of illegal immigration, made the repression promised a centerpiece of his political career and now suggests that the new law could only be the beginning.
“This shows the potential for additional application bills that will help us repress criminal foreigners and completely restore the rule of law in our country,” said the President to the Republicans at home at a conference of His doral golf club in Florida.
The legislation bears the name of Laken Riley, a student in nursing in Georgia, 22 years old, who was released for a race in February 2024 and was killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national in the United States illegally. Ibarra was found guilty in November and sentenced to perpetuity without parole.
“Having a note of such importance that bears his name is a big, a big tribute,” said Trump. “This new form of crime, criminal and illegal foreigners, is – it is massive, the figures are massive and you add that to the crime that we already had.”
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The rapid adoption of the legislation and the signature of Trump nine days after adoption adds to the powerful symbolism for the conservatives. For criticism, the measure took advantage of a tragedy and could lead to chaos and cruelty while doing little to fight crime or revise the immigration system.
Senator John Fetterman, D-P., Cosponsor, planned to attend the signature ceremony.
“I believe that a secure border creates a safer nation and it’s just common sense,” he said in a press release, adding that he was elected “to work with both sides of the aisle.”
Federal officials should hold any immigrant arrested or accused of crimes such as the theft or assault of a police officer, or offenses that hurt or kill someone. State -of -the -art prosecutors could continue the US government for damage caused by federal immigration decisions – potentially allowing leaders of conservative states to help dictate the immigration policy established by Washington.
Ibarra had been arrested for illegal entry in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, and released to continue his case before the immigration court. Federal officials say he was arrested by New York police in August 2023 for the endangerment of children and released. The police said that he was also suspected of theft in Georgia in October 2023 – who all occurred before the murder of Riley.
After the Chamber adopted the bill, the president of the Mike Johnson Chamber, R-La., said that it was “the right thing to do”.
Some Democrats wondered if he was constitutional. Immigrant defenders are preparing for mass detention who, according to them, will mean an expensive construction of immigration locking facilities to house people arrested.
“They can’t just celebrate. They can use it for their mass expulsion program, “said Naureen Shah, Deputy Director of Government Affairs of the Equality Division of the American Civil Liberties Union, about supporters of the law.
The Alcu affirms that the law can allow people to be “locked up compulsory – potentially for years – because at some point in their lives, perhaps decades, they were accused of non -violent offenses ».
Hannah Flamm, Director of an acting main policy of the project to help international refugees, said that the measure violates the fundamental rights of immigrants by allowing the detention of people who had not been accused of reprehensible acts – and even condemned. However, she said: “The latent fear of the electoral cycle of Soft’s search on crime has made snowball to help and encourage the total confusion of Trump’s immigration with crime.”
Flamm said that he would probably be disputed in court. But she also predicted that a need to pay for more immigration detention centers would give defenders a chance to challenge the way federal funds are appropriate to cover these costs.
“I think it is essential to understand: this bill, supervised linked to a tragic death, is a pretext to strengthen a mass expulsion system,” said Flamm.
The signature follows a wave of executive decrees of the first week by Trump which are designed to better seal the American-Mexican border and finally move to expel millions of immigrants without permanent legal status from the United States. The new administration has also canceled the resettlement of refugees and says that it could try to continue local officials of the application of laws which do not apply its new immigration policies.
“We follow illegal extraterrestrial criminals and we hold them and we throw them in the hell of our country,” said Trump. “We have no excuses and we go ahead very quickly.”
& Copy 2025 the Canadian press