Border Security

Promise Made. Promise Kept. 

My Republican colleagues and I committed to secure our borders and hold criminals accountable.  We kept this promise when the first bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2025 was the Laken Riley Act. 

H.R. 29 was introduced in response to the murder of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student by Jose Antonio Ibarra, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Ibarra was arrested multiple times prior to the death of Riley, including shoplifting in 2023, but was not detained by ICE. Despite passing the House last Congress with bipartisan support, the Democrat-held Senate failed to pass this important bill. 

What a difference a year makes - the Republican-led Senate passed this bill and it was signed into law by President Trump on January 29, 2025!