Laken Riley Act clears critical Senate hurdle

• The Senate voted 61-35, with 60 votes required, to limit debate on the measure, setting it on a glide path to passage next week.
• The legislation, which would need to go back to the House for a final vote before heading to Trump's desk, is named for a 22-year-old nursing student who was killed on the University of Georgia campus.
• It passed the House last week 264-159, with 48 Democrats siding with Republicans in voting for it.

The big picture: The effort to position the legislation as the first Trump signs in his second term underscores how central immigration and border security will be for Republicans under the incoming administration.

• The party spent the last four years railing against what they said was the Biden administration's dereliction on border security.

• Republicans frequently pointed to Riley's murder at the hands of an undocumented immigrant who had previously been arrested on theft-related charges as evidence of the need for stronger border policies.

Zoom in: Democratic support came largely from those who represent states Trump won in 2024 — including Arizona's Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, Georgia's Jon Ossoff, Michigan's Gary Peters and Elissa Slotkin, Nevada's Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, and New Hampshire's Maggie Hassan.

Go deeper: ICE warns Laken Riley Act could force it to release detained migrants