Senate Moves Forward Bill to Expand Deportations of Migrants Accused of Crimes

The Senate on Thursday came closer to passing a bill requiring the deportation of undocumented immigrants charged with minor crimes after most Democrats joined Republicans to advance it.

All but eight Democrats and one independent voted to begin debate on the bill, easily exceeding the 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster. The legislation, which passed the House with bipartisan support earlier this week, appears to be on a smooth path to garnering the presidential signature of Donald J. Trump when he takes office this month.

The vote reflected a major shift to the right among Democrats on immigration after their party’s considerable electoral losses in November against Republicans, who campaigned on a promise to crack down on illegal border crossings and carry out mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

The measure is named for Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student who was killed last year by a migrant who crossed into the United States illegally from Venezuela and who had previously been arrested for shoplifting, but had not been detained.

Republicans queued it up as the first of several border bills they hope to revive and enact when they secure their governing trifecta with Mr. Trump’s inauguration. A similar measure died in the Democrat-led Senate last year, alongside other bills to increase deportations, hold asylum seekers outside of the United States and strip federal funding from cities that restrict their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement agencies.

But on Thursday, some Democrats expressed enthusiasm for the bill.

“Not only am I voting yes on the Laken Riley Act, I’m cosponsoring the bill,” Senator Ruben Gallego, Democrat of Arizona, said on social media, adding: “We must give law enforcement the means to take action to prevent tragedies like what occurred to Laken Riley.”

Others were careful to caution that their backing was conditional, and that they wanted changes to the bill before they would support its passage.

“Democrats want to have a robust debate where we can offer amendments and improve the bill,” Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, said on the floor Thursday as he announced he would support taking up the bill. “This is an important issue, we should have a debate and amendments.”

The legislation instructs federal officials to detain unauthorized immigrants arrested for or charged with burglary, theft, larceny or shoplifting, expanding the list of charges that would subject migrants to detention and potential deportation.

The measure also would give state attorneys general the right to sue the attorney general or homeland security secretary if an immigrant who enters the United States illegally goes on to commit a crime that harms the state or any of its residents.

Proponents argued that the bill’s changes were an important tool to enable federal immigration enforcement officials to apprehend people like Jose Antonio Ibarra, who was given a life sentence last year for killing Ms. Riley, before they are able to commit violent crimes.

“Laken’s killer robbed a business before he robbed Laken of her life,” Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican of Iowa, said on the floor. “He should have been in prison or deported immediately after he committed his first crime.”

Republicans were also adamant that they would not entertain making any changes that might soften the impact of the bill.

“Senate Republicans are not weakening this lifesaving legislation, we will not allow that to happen,” Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the second highest-ranking Republican, said on the floor. “We must ensure that what happened to Laken Riley does not happen again.”

But many Democrats said they were concerned that the bill could push federal authorities to deport people who might not be guilty of the nonviolent crimes of which they had been accused.

Some immigration advocates have raised concerns that the bill could result in migrants who came to the country illegally but have since obtained permission to remain being deported if they are accused of a crime, without having a chance to defend themselves in court.

They have also decried the provisions permitting states to bring lawsuits against the federal government as a covert attempt to let conservative governors and state attorneys general dictate federal migrant detention policies.

“The Laken Riley Act could hand decisions about the enforcement of many immigration laws to state attorneys general and any one of 677 federal district judges around the country,” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, wrote on social media, adding: “That raises serious concerns.”

The bill must clear another 60-vote hurdle next week before a final vote requiring a simple majority to pass and clear Congress.

In the House, four dozen Democrats voted in favor of the legislation, including 13 first-term members.