ILAP’s statement on the Laken Riley Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 8, 2025
CONTACT: press@ilapmaine.org

Maine - ILAP unequivocally opposes the Laken Riley Act, which politicizes and exploits the tragic death of Laken Riley. Research is clear that there is no correlation between immigration status and the likelihood to commit a crime and there already exists expansive authority to detain and deport people with criminal convictions. This bill would only serve to pave the way for the incoming administration’s extremist, anti-immigrant mass deportation agenda, a plan that would separate families, destabilize communities, and harm businesses and the economy here in Maine and across the country.  

Sue Roche, Executive Director at the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project said: “The Laken Riley Act would require mandatory, indefinite detention for undocumented people based on mere allegations or arrests without convictions of low-level, non-violent offenses like petty shoplifting. As there is no statute of limitations for when a minor offense occurred, long-standing members of Maine’s communities could be at risk of being indefinitely incarcerated, ripped from their homes, families, and jobs. Even more unconscionably, this bill has no mechanism to allow a detained person to be released. The result is clear – the Laken Riley Act would enact mass, mandatory detention, drastically drain taxpayer dollars, and lead to expanded racial profiling and the incarceration of Black and Brown people in America. Indefinitely detaining a mother who shoplifts formula to feed her baby or a woman whose abuser accuses her of stealing from him isn’t a public safety measure, it’s inhumane and likely unconstitutional.”   

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