Important News

DHS Marks One-Year Anniversary of Laken Riley Act, Reports Over 21,400 Arrests

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Key takeaways

  • DHS commemorated the one-year anniversary of the Laken Riley Act on January 29, 2026.
  • The Laken Riley Act (signed January 29, 2025) mandates federal detention for noncitizens accused of theft, burglary, assaulting a law enforcement officer, and crimes causing death or serious bodily injury.
  • DHS states ICE arrested more than 21,400 noncitizens for offenses covered by the Laken Riley Act.
  • The law is named after Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student who was killed by a noncitizen from Venezuela.
  • The release quotes Secretary Kristi Noem praising the law’s role in arresting and removing violent noncitizens.
  • The announcement lists multiple individuals from several countries (including Cuba, Mexico, Jamaica, India, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Guatemala, and Iraq) convicted of various violent or drug-related offenses.

Follow Up Questions

What does "federal detention" mean under the Laken Riley Act — which agency detains people and for how long?Expand

Under the Laken Riley Act “federal detention” means DHS (through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations) must take custody of eligible noncitizens and hold them in federal immigration custody rather than releasing them to the community. The statute amends 8 U.S.C. §1226(c) to require the Secretary of Homeland Security to issue a detainer and “effectively and expeditiously take custody” of an alien charged with or convicted of specified offenses; detention generally continues through immigration proceedings and the removal period as authorized by the INA (i.e., until removal, a bond decision, or other law-based release).

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