Warnock: Bipartisan Laken Riley Act ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ by People ‘Not Serious’ Enough to Do Bipartisan Bill

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “ReidOut,” Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) stated that the Laken Riley Act, which passed the House with support from both Republicans and Democrats “is smoke and mirrors by people who are not serious” and who “ought to get serious and let’s pass some bipartisan legislation and deal with the crisis at the border.”

Host Joy Reid asked, “Let me ask you another question, because we know that one of the ways that Donald Trump and Republicans are hoping to demagogue their way back into control of the White House and to hold on to control of the Senate — I mean, control of the House and gain control of the Senate is the immigration issue. And they have been truly demagoguing an issue of a Georgia young woman who was killed, a Georgia young nursing student named Laken Riley. They’ve now passed a law called the Laken Riley Act, all Republican members and 37 Democrats voted in the House to support the bill. The legislation requires the detention of any migrant who’s been accused of burglary or theft. My understanding is that burglary and theft are already illegal. What does this law add to the current existing law? Is it just a messaging bill? Does it do anything or change anything? I will note for our audience that overall crime is down this year across this country and migrant crime is negligible — crime by migrants is negligible. What does this law do? Does it do anything?”

Warnock answered, “Let me first of all just say that my heart goes out to this young woman’s family. Laken Riley did not deserve what happened to her. To answer your question succinctly, this is smoke and mirrors by people who are not serious. We had a bipartisan piece of legislation in front of us. It had a lot of provisions, some provisions that some folks on my side didn’t like, but the only way to get comprehensive immigration reform, the only way to address the current crisis on the border in divided government is on a bipartisan basis. And so, rather than demagoguing this tragic death by this young woman, they ought to get serious and let’s pass some bipartisan legislation and deal with the crisis at the border.”

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