Fix the Laken Riley Act to Require a Conviction

The Laken Riley Act requires immigration detention on arrest, before any conviction and with no bond hearing.

A letter to your members of Congress. Facts checked September 24, 2026.

The explainer behind this letter Laken Riley Act The 2025 law mandating detention on arrest, not conviction

The Letter

Subject Amend the Laken Riley Act to require a conviction and a bond hearing

Laken Riley's killer was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to life under the laws we already had. Fixing the law that carries her name would not change that.

My concern is people who have only been arrested. The Laken Riley Act requires immigration detention on an arrest for shoplifting or theft, before any conviction, with no bond hearing. In Massachusetts, an 18-year-old with no pending charges spent more than two months detained until a federal judge ruled that holding him without a hearing violated due process. In Los Angeles, a man stayed locked up for weeks after a judge dismissed his case.

An arrest is an accusation, not a verdict. ICE itself estimated the law would cost $26.9 billion in its first year.

Please amend the Laken Riley Act so mandatory detention requires a conviction and everyone held gets a bond hearing.

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Call Your Representative

U.S. Capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121

I'm a constituent calling about the Laken Riley Act. Laken Riley's killer was convicted and sentenced to life under existing law. My concern is people who have only been arrested.
The law requires immigration detention on an arrest for theft-related crimes, before any conviction and with no bond hearing. A federal judge ruled in 2025 that holding an 18-year-old with no pending charges that way violated due process.
ICE's own estimate put the first-year cost at $26.9 billion.
Will the member support amending the law so mandatory detention requires a conviction and people who are held get a bond hearing?

Calls get logged by topic. Volume drives the briefing.

The Facts Behind the Ask

First law The Laken Riley Act was the first bill President Trump signed in his second term, on January 29, 2025 (source)
On arrest Detention is triggered by an arrest, charge, or admission for theft-related crimes, not a conviction, with no bond hearing (source)
$26.9 billion ICE internal estimate of the law's first-year cost, including about 110,000 more detention beds (source)

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