New bill seeks to give local police authority to arrest undocumented immigrants

State Representative Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, has pre-filed the Laken Riley Act for the 2025 Legislative Session — a new bill that looks to expand the jurisdiction of local police allowing them to arrest individuals based on immigration status. The bill is named for Laken Riley, the victim of a high-profile kidnapping and murder in Georgia that occurred earlier this year. Riley’s father Jason has denounced the use of his daughter’s legacy as a tool for exacerbating political tensions saying, “I’d rather her not be such a political, how you say — it started a storm in our country and it’s incited a lot of people.” The Laken Riley Act is expected to leave the Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee and reach the State House floor sometime early in the 2025 session.