(The Epoch Times)—The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has arrested and detained more than 17,500 criminal illegal immigrants under the Laken Riley Act, the department said in a Dec. 24 statement.
The Laken Riley Act was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Jan. 29, in honor of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Hope Riley from Georgia, who was murdered by a Venezuelan illegal immigrant in February 2024.
The Act requires DHS to detain illegal immigrants who have been arrested for theft, burglary, shoplifting, or larceny. It also allows states to sue the federal government for any violation of federal immigration laws that endanger American citizens.
Earlier this week, DHS cited results from Operation Angel’s Honor, a 14-day nationwide operation launched in honor of Riley that targeted illegal immigrants who committed crimes that come under the purview of the Laken Riley Act.
During the operation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrested 1,030 criminal illegal immigrants, the department said.
Some of the arrested individuals include a Cuban illegal immigrant convicted of 17 counts of larceny, a Guatemalan national charged with cruelty toward a child and convicted of aggravated assault on an officer, a Jamaican illegal immigrant convicted of sexual assault, and a Mexican national convicted of kidnapping and drug possession.
According to the DHS, Riley’s murderer was a “member of the Tren de Aragua, who was previously arrested and released into the United States under the Biden administration in September 2022.” Tren de Aragua was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the State Department in February.
“He was previously arrested by NYPD for acting in a manner to injure a child less than 17 and released back into American neighborhoods. He then went on to commit the heinous murder of Laken Riley,” the DHS statement said.
Riley went missing on Feb. 22, 2024, during her morning jog around a wooded area at the University of Georgia. Her body was discovered along her usual route later the same day after a friend reported her missing when she failed to return to her campus.
Riley was murdered by Jose Antonio Ibarra, who was previously arrested and released several times for various offenses, including theft.
“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,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said.
“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.”
The Laken Riley Act faced opposition from some groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Before Trump signed the Act into law, the ACLU said the legislation was exploiting Riley’s death to escalate a “false, xenophobic narrative about immigrants.”
Sarah Mehta, ACLU senior border policy counsel, alleged that the bill would strengthen Trump’s mass deportation efforts.
“It will force immigration authorities to detain individuals accused of nonviolent theft offenses like shoplifting regardless of whether or not law enforcement even deems them as a threat,” Mehta said.
In a Jan. 22 statement, two days after Trump began his second term, the Executive Office of the President supported the need for the bipartisan Laken Riley Act.
“This commonsense legislation would provide law enforcement with the tools they need to protect our communities and prevent future senseless tragedies, and is consistent with the Administration’s broader efforts to strengthen enforcement of our immigration laws and improve the security of the Nation’s borders,” the statement said.
The DHS said in a Dec. 19 statement that the department has deported “hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal aliens” under the Trump administration, including kidnappers, rapists, drug traffickers, and gang members.
Multiple operations have been carried out to arrest criminal illegal immigrants, it said. For instance, in Chicago and the Midwest, Operation Midway Blitz resulted in the arrests of more than 4,500 illegal immigrants. In Portland, Oregon, Operation Black Rose has led to the arrests of more than 1,240 illegal immigrants.
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