Hinson Co-Sponsors First Bill Cleared by U.S. House in 2025

The four Iowans who serve in the U.S. House have voted for a bill that would require federal authorities to detain illegal immigrants arrested for theft, burglary or shoplifting. 

Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, a Republican from Marion, is a co-sponsor of the bill.

It’s the first bill passed by the U.S. House this year.

It’s called the Laken Riley Act, named for a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student murdered last year by a Venezuelan who’d been arrested twice before. Since 2016, Iowa’s congressional delegation has been proposing a bill named for Sarah Root – the 21 year old from Council Bluffs killed by a drunk driver from Honduras who vanished after being released on bond. That bill would require Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain illegal immigrants charged with killing or seriously injuring someone. It also had some victim notification requirements. Hinson says it’s possible Congress could combine the Laken Riley Act and Sarah’s Law in a package that would deny federal funding to so-called sanctuary cities where police are discouraged from detaining people who’ve entered the country illegally.

story courtesy of Radio Iowa