Photo credit (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)
Victim and advocacy organization leaders gathered in downtown Minneapolis Tuesday to urge the U.S. Senate to defeat the Laken Riley Act.
The House has already passed the bill, which would mandate federal detention of immigrants for theft, burglary, or similar crimes, even if there are no charges or a conviction.
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty says that law would lead to potentially false accusations.
"This bill opens the floodgates for people to channel that hate, and make false allegations against non-citizens to get them detained and deported," says Moriarty. "That's not public safety. That's simply cruelty."
The act is named after a 22-year-old nursing student who was killed by a Venezuelan man who was in the U.S. illegally, but had earlier been released by the border patrol agents. He's now serving a life prison sentence.
Supporters of the act say it's essential for public safety and will protect Americans from dangerous illegal aliens who had been detained but released.
Violence Free Minnesota director Guadelupe Lopez says the law is targeting people who are less likely to commit crimes.
"Research indicates that undocumented immigrants are even less likely to commit crimes of violence than individuals born of the United States," Lopez claims. "Such legislation is based on hateful stereotypes that would lead to any meaningful reduction of violence against women."
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and most...
Federal prosecutors on Thursday unveiled charges against 11 Eastern Europeans they accused of running a sophisticated, $10.6 billion Medicare fraud scheme in what appears to be one of the largest ...