Talk:Laken Riley Act

While this bill purportedly targets illegal immigrants, the Act it modifies applies to "aliens." The Act states: "The term "alien" means any person not a citizen or national of the United States." Therefore this bill would apply to any non-citizen non-national, including legal permanent residents with Green Cards. Wipe Scheizug (talk) 18:31, 25 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I checked the law and this appears to be true. I believe this info would be worth adding to the article. The trouble is that I'm unsure if we're allowed to cite primary source documents on Wikipedia.

Definition of "alien":

[1]https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title8-section1101&num=0&edition=prelim

Laken Riley Act:

[2]https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/29/text LaggyMcStab (talk) 02:21, 27 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I changed the description to specify that it requires the arrest of non-citizens rather than only illegal immigrants. LaggyMcStab (talk) 04:40, 27 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I think on this topic that using the term Illegal Alien in areas other than those about the act directly is dehumanizing and isn't necessary. I would change it to Illegal Immigrant/Undocumented Immigrant. Remus Trimble (talk) 21:04, 29 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This act targets all non-citizens so while they're talking about "illegal immigrants" in the media, this act doesn't talk about them at all. The act (and the act it modifies) cited in the first paragraph of this article only ever uses the word "alien" so the article shouldn't use the words illegal/undocumented at all. This very much could apply to a legal permanent resident who has lived here for 60 years. Wipe Scheizug (talk) 21:34, 29 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

UPDATE: I reread the bill. Section 2 specifies an alien who "is inadmissible" under specific sections of the Act it modifies so it is not applicable to all aliens. I apologize for pulling the fire alarm here. However, neither the text or the summary uses "illegal" so we should consider using less coded language. Wipe Scheizug (talk) 16:18, 30 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

But this is also by far the clearest wording. I'm not sure everyone knows what an "undocumented migrant" even is. Whereas everyone knows what an illegal is. - 2A02:810D:BCBF:FD88:51F:F220:C2CD:6CF4 (talk) 21:31, 30 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I think even using just Alien in reference to the act is clear enough and isn't as coded. Remus Trimble (talk) 17:29, 31 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

"Illegal" is coded to include asylum-seekers and citizens born under the auspices of the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, both of which are here legally, so it is both politically charged and imprecise. Wipe Scheizug (talk) 17:50, 31 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The reporting seems to be in conflict. I found sources that say it applies to non citizens, and other sources that say it applies to unauthorized immigrants. The law itself uses the term “alien” which means “any person not a citizen or national of the United States,” which seems to suggest it applies broadly to non-citizens. I’m not a lawyer though. Without expert opinion and reporters contradicting each other I think we should come to consensus on what the law actually does. LaggyMcStab (talk) 20:20, 29 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Please read my topic below. You are right. M.Karelin (talk) 23:29, 29 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like it amends 8 USC 1226 and applies to "aliens" which are defined in 8 USC § 1101(a)(3) as "(3)The term “alien” means any person not a citizen or national of the United States." (See https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-119s5enr/pdf/BILLS-119s5enr.pdf and https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1226) Remember (talk) 12:11, 30 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

"The Laken Riley Act, as the law is known, directs the authorities to detain and deport immigrants who are accused — not yet convicted — of specific crimes, if they are in the country illegally." [3]. This Law is ONLY about illegal aliens. Only!! I have read the Law, believe me this is only about illegals. Plz make changes in the article. M.Karelin (talk) 23:28, 29 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I'm confused as to why the whole section on legal definitions, with reliable sources, was removed. Bearian (talk) 13:34, 30 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Just for clarity, you are referring to the following text below. If so, I don't know why it was removed. Remember (talk) 13:47, 30 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

== Definitions == A ''non-U.S. national'' is an individual who is not a citizen of the United States. This includes people who are citizens of other countries and do not have U.S. citizenship. Non-U.S. nationals may include lawful permanent residents (Green Card holders), temporary visa holders, and undocumented immigrants.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ALIENS AND NATIONALITY |url=https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title8&saved=%7CKHRpdGxlOjggc2VjdGlvbjoxMjI2IGVkaXRpb246cHJlbGltKQ==%7C%7C%7C0%7Cfalse%7Cprelim&edition=prelim |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=uscode.house.gov}}</ref> ''Charge'' under Federal law, means "a formal accusation of criminal activity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/charge#|title=Charge|website=[[Cornell Law School]] [[Legal Information Institute]]|access-date=January 30, 2025}}</ref> ''Charged'' specifically means, either "to make an accusation against esp. in order to bring to trial," or "to allege esp. as an accusation [crimes charged in the indictment]."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dictionary.findlaw.com/definition/charge.html|website=dictionary.findlaw.com|title=charged|access-date=January 30, 2025}}</ref>

128.163.238.98 (talk) 21:23, 30 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This article says that the Laken Riley act is “…to detain illegal immigrants admitting…” but the Laken Riley act actually applies to non-us nationals, not necessarily illegal ones. This is an important distinction because it is the cornerstone of a lot of the controversy around this law.

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Opm581 (talk) 00:28, 3 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]