Nebraska Panhandle News

U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) urged his colleagues on the Senate floor to pass the Laken Riley Act, a bill aimed at mandating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal aliens involved in theft, burglary, larceny, or shoplifting until they can be deported. Ricketts emphasized accountability for those breaking U.S. laws, stating, “People who break the laws in our country need to be held accountable.”

The bill is named after Laken Riley, a University of Georgia nursing student who was murdered while jogging on campus in February 2024. The alleged perpetrator, Jose Ibarra, an illegal alien from Venezuela, had previously been arrested but not detained by ICE.

Ricketts criticized President Biden's border policies during his speech, citing an increase in border encounters and drug trafficking as consequences of what he described as "open border policies." He pointed out that law enforcement encountered 169 people on the FBI’s terrorist watch list at the border in 2023 and highlighted a record single-day encounter of 12,600 individuals attempting to cross the southern border.

The senator also referenced Nebraska's experience with increased drug confiscations since Biden took office and shared personal stories of Nebraskans affected by fentanyl overdoses. He attributed these issues to inadequate border security.

Ricketts concluded by calling for bipartisan support for the Laken Riley Act as a step towards securing borders under President Trump’s administration. “The election results were overwhelming. President Trump has a mandate to secure our borders,” he stated.