U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is directing the opening of a detention center at Guantanamo Bay to hold up to 30,000 migrants who are living illegally in the United States.
Trump made the announcement right before he signed the Laken Riley Act into law as his administration’s first piece of legislation. The bipartisan measure means that people who are in the U.S. illegally and are accused of theft and violent crimes would have to be detained and potentially deported even before a conviction.
The measure quickly passed the new Republican-controlled Congress with some Democratic support even though immigrants rights advocates said it possibly could lead to large roundups of people for offenses as minor as shoplifting. Trump has pledged that his administration will carry out the largest mass deportation effort in U.S. history.
Trump, who won back the White House by tapping into public anger over illegal immigration, has made the promised crackdown a centerpiece of his political career, and is now suggesting the new law might only be the beginning.
“This shows the potential for additional enforcement bills that will help us crack down on criminal aliens and totally restore the rule of law in our country,” the president told House Republicans at a conference at his Doral golf club in Florida.
The legislation is named for Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who went out for a run in February 2024 and was killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national in the U.S. illegally. Ibarra was found guilty in November and sentenced to life without parole.“To have a bill of such importance named after her is a great, a great tribute,” Trump said. “This new form of crime, criminal, illegal aliens, it’s — it’s massive, the numbers are massive and you add that to the crime we already had.”
The swift passage of the legislation and Trump’s signing nine days after taking office adds to the potent symbolism for conservatives. To critics, the measure has taken advantage of a tragedy and could lead to chaos and cruelty while doing little to fight crime or overhaul the immigration system.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., a cosponsor, planned to attend the signing ceremony.
“I believe a secure border creates a more secure nation and it’s just common sense,” he said in a statement, adding that he was elected “to work with both sides of the aisle.”
Federal officials would have to detain any immigrant arrested or charged with crimes such as theft or assaulting a police officer, or offenses that injure or kill someone. State attorneys general could sue the U.S. government for harm caused by federal immigration decisions — potentially allowing the leaders of conservative states to help dictate immigration policy set by Washington.
Ibarra had been arrested for illegal entry in September 2022 near El Paso, Texas, and released to pursue his case in immigration court. Federal officials say he was arrested by New York police in August 2023 for child endangerment and released. Police say he was also suspected of theft in Georgia in October 2023 — all of which occurred before Riley’s killing.
After the House passed the bill, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said it was “the right thing to do.”