Bill named for murdered Georgia nursing student heads to final passage in House

“She should be alive today, and I thought it was important to act,” he said. “This is not the bill I would have written. I think I was hoping for a path for a more bipartisan bill, but I’ll keep working from here.”

Ossoff, who is up for reelection next year, had said all along that he backed the legislation. His posture didn’t change even after the Senate approved amendments adding to the list of criminal charges that would lead to deportation proceedings.

The original language, which the House has already approved, allowed law enforcement agencies to detain and begin deportation procedures for migrants accused of nonviolent crimes like burglary and theft. The first amendment added assault on law enforcement officers to the list of eligible offenses, and a second approved Monday broadened the measure further to include “any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person.”

The House is likely to vote on the amended bill Wednesday. It is expected to gain approval, which means it would be sent to Trump and become the first bill signed into law during his second term.

The Senate approved the bill as Trump signed executive orders, including some related to immigration, in front of a crowd of supporters at an inaugural rally at the Capital One Arena.

Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued a statement criticizing the Senate’s vote Monday.

She noted the vote coincided with the national holiday honoring the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and said the legislation “stands in stark contrast to Dr. King’s dream of justice, equality, and freedom from oppression for all people, including immigrants.”