States can sue the federal government over immigrant detention rules.
H.R. 29 — Laken Riley Act · Filed by Mike Collins (R-GA) · 54 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 3, 2025 · Passed chamber
Your members of Congress
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What it does
The bill requires DHS to hold non-citizens charged with theft crimes. These crimes are burglary, larceny, and shoplifting. State attorneys general can sue the federal government in federal court. They can sue if DHS broke detention rules or released such people. Courts must speed up these cases. A state can sue if it loses more than $100.
Who it affects
Non-citizens charged with theft crimes are affected. States and the federal government are affected. States can now sue over detention choices.
One thing to notice
The bill does not say what 'charged with' means. It could mean accusation, formal charges, or arrest. The $100 harm threshold is very low. States might sue over small money losses.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
54 cosponsors: 53 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Jan 3, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jan 3, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on the Judiciary · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary”
- Jan 7, 2025 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 264 - 159 (Roll no. 6). (text: CR H53-54)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- non-citizens — People who are not U.S. citizens.
- attorneys general — The top lawyers for each state government.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (6,587 characters) on Jul 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,522 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-21.
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