Language from legislation led by U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) to make assaulting a law enforcement officer a deportable offense was included in a larger bill signed into law by the president on Jan. 29.
“The idea that someone can come into this country illegally and continue to commit crimes without consequence is unacceptable,” Rep. Garbarino said on Wednesday after attending the bill signing ceremony at the White House.
The newly enacted Laken Riley Act, S. 5, includes a provision originally found in the Protect Our Law enforcement with Immigration Control and Enforcement (POLICE) Act of 2021, which Rep. Garbarino sponsored in December 2021.
On Jan. 3, the congressman again sponsored the POLICE Act of 2025, H.R. 31, with 15 Republican original cosponsors, including U.S. Reps. Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Greg Murphy (R-NC), and Pete Stauber (R-MN).
“I am proud to see my provision from the POLICE Act become law,” said Rep. Garbarino. “This legislation is for our law enforcement officers on the front lines of the border crisis… and for the countless other Americans who have suffered at the hands of criminal migrants.”
The enacted Laken Riley Act, which is named in honor of a 22-year-old nursing student who was murdered last year by an illegal immigrant on the University of Georgia campus, requires Immigration and Customs Enforcement to issue detainers and take custody of illegal immigrants “effectively and expeditiously” when they commit certain crimes, including assault on a law enforcement officer.