Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) said during an interview over the weekend that he does not support the Laken Riley Act, named after 22-year-old Laken Riley, who was murdered by 26-year-old Venezuelan illegal alien Jose Ibarra.
Padilla made the remarks about the bill, which has received strong support from both parties, during a Sunday interview on NBC News’ “Meet The Press” with Kristen Welker.
“So my understanding is there was a procedural vote to allow the measure to come up in the Senate for purposes of allowing a debate, allowing us to offer amendments,” he said. “The bill currently, as written, is first of all, it’s not immigration policy. Second of all, it is already in law that those who commit violent crimes can and should be detained and are in that deportation process.”
Welker had to press Padilla two more times to answer whether he would support the bill after Senators voted 84-9 to advance it in the U.S. Senate.
“As currently written I’m a no, because it opens the doors for people simply being charged, without a conviction, to be detained and deported,” he said, trying to defend illegal aliens. “That includes minors, that includes Dreamers, that’s shoplifting a pack of bubble gum. There has to be more of a focus on a piece of legislation like this.”
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