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jon ossoff
12 Senate Democrats Help GOP Pass Laken Riley Act as Trump Takes Office
The bill, noted one opponent, "has some egregious provisions that will have dramatic consequences beyond its stated goal of locking up undocumented individuals like the man who murdered Laken Riley."
Jan 20, 2025
A dozen U.S. Senate Democrats on Monday helped the GOP pass the Laken Riley Act—an immigration bill decried as a far-right power grab—just hours after Republican President Donald Trump was sworn in for a second term.
Those 12 Democrats are Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (Nev.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), Mark Kelly (Ariz.), Jon Ossoff (Ga.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Jacky Rosen (Nev.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (Mich.), Mark Warner (Va.), and Raphael Warnock (Ga.). Fetterman and Gallego co-sponsored the bill.
A version of the legislation—named for a 22-year-old woman murdered by a Venezuelan migrant in Georgia last year—was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this month in a 264-159 vote, with support from 48 Democrats. However, it must be approved by the chamber again before it will head to Trump's desk.
"I just voted against the Laken Riley Act," said Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). "This bill won't accomplish its goals. I'm disappointed in its passage as it stands, and I'm deeply concerned about how it will be implemented."
Writing to members of Congress ahead of the Senate's 64-35 vote, over 70 national groups said that "the senselessness of the murder of Laken Riley does not justify making unprecedented changes to immigration detention laws that—like all mandatory incarceration provisions—will only result in more discrimination while doing little to increase public safety."
Urging lawmakers to oppose the bill the coalition explained:
S. 5 would require the mandatory detention—without any possibility of bond—of undocumented persons who are merely arrested for or charged with certain offenses, including misdemeanor shoplifting. It does not require conviction. There is no statute of limitations, and the bill does not specify any process by which a person might contest either their immigration detention or the underlying criminal charges (if charges are even pursued). Mandatory immigration detention on the basis of a mere arrest is unprecedented, and it would invite abuses that almost certainly would disproportionately impact people of color.
We are also concerned with language in the bill that would give states standing to sue the federal government over any allegation that the federal government is improperly implementing immigration laws, such as detention and removal provisions, visa provisions, or its discretionary parole authority. This language would open the floodgates to litigation, and it would enable individual states to shape federal immigration policies.
"Laken Riley should be with us today. Her murder is a tragedy, and the perpetrator should be held fully accountable," said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) after the vote. "The Laken Riley Act, however, has some egregious provisions that will have dramatic consequences beyond its stated goal of locking up undocumented individuals like the man who murdered Laken Riley. Specifically, it requires mandatory imprisonment for undocumented children who have never been charged with or convicted of a crime. This is twisted."
"We've seen time and again the damage the federal government can cause our children with dangerous immigration policies like this," he added. "I will continue to champion proposals that keep all of us safe, fix America's broken immigration system, and strengthen our border security. Our families and communities demand nothing less."
The Senate vote came as Trump began imposing his anti-immigrant agenda with a slew of executive orders. The Republican, who campaigned on mass deportations and ending birthright citizenship, is expected to sign the Laken Riley Act once it reaches him.
"Trump's first actions as president show us exactly who he is and what he believes about America," said Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). "While he talked about unity, he used his first moment in the office to stoke fear and fuel division. While he talked about a 'golden age,' he signed unconstitutional and un-American executive orders that gut equality initiatives, criminalize immigrants, end asylum, roll back climate protections, and endanger our national security. There is nothing great about an America that denies peoples' civil rights, refuses refuge to the persecuted, or denies future generations clean air and water."
"I believe America is greatest when we pursue justice, equality, and peace and honor our shared humanity," she added. "This daughter of immigrants, citizen by birthright, and congresista from a district that celebrates our diversity, stands ready to fight for the soul of our nation. Regardless of who is president, I will continue to fight for the policies working people demand: affordable housing and healthcare, good-paying jobs, clean air and water, public safety, and comprehensive immigration reform."Keep ReadingShow Less
'Good for Democracy': Ex-Lawmakers Urge Senate Vote on Banning Stock Trades
More than 40 former members of Congress said the ETHICS Act is sorely needed because it "addresses pressing issues, especially low levels of trust in Congress and the appearance of insider trading."
Sep 16, 2024
A bipartisan group of more than 40 former federal lawmakers on Monday urged the U.S. Senate to vote on proposed legislation that would ban sitting members of Congress from buying or selling stocks and other financial holdings.
"We, the undersigned bipartisan former public officials, many of whom served in Congress, write to urge Senate leadership to bring the amended Ending Trading and Holdings In Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act to a floor vote before it is set to sunset at the end of the 118th Congress," the letter's signers wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Signatories include former Sens. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) along with Reps. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), Donna Edwards (D-Md.), Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), and Leon Panetta (D-Calif.).
"Notably," the ex-lawmakers said, "we propose attaching this crucial legislation to any 'must-pass' package. This legislation merits inclusion in such a package because it addresses pressing issues, especially low levels of trust in Congress and the appearance of insider trading."
The letter continues:
As you are both aware, the discussion of how elected officials trade stocks has been intensifying both inside and outside the Congress for years. In 2022, members of Congress made more than 12,700 individual trades, with dozens of members making above-average gains. A 2022 New York Timesinvestigation reported that a fifth of all lawmakers were trading in companies directly related to their work on a congressional committee.
Critics have long decried existing legislation—including the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and the Stop Trading Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012, which require annual financial disclosures by members of Congress—as largely toothless window dressing. Advocates of measures like the ETHICS Act have pushed for more stringent safeguards against self-dealing by members of Congress.
The ETHICS Act—which was introduced in July by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)—would ban members of Congress, the president, and vice president from buying and selling securities, commodities, futures, options, trusts, and other holdings. It would also prohibit their spouses and dependent children from divesting covered assets starting in 2027. The bill contains robust enforcement mechanisms and noncompliance penalties.
Calls for a vote on the ETHICS Act mounted after last week's revelation that more than 50 U.S. lawmakers held stocks in companies related to the military-industrial complex—even as those same firms received hundreds of billions of dollars in annual business via congressional legislation.
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Senate Report, Hearing Confirm 'Systematic Medical Abuse' of Migrant Women in ICE Detention
Sen. Jon Ossoff, lead author of the report and chair of the Senate investigations subcommittee, called the mistreatment "a catastrophic failure by the federal government to respect basic human rights."
Nov 16, 2022
After 18 months of bipartisan investigation, the United States Senate on Tuesday published a report and held a hearing on the medical abuse of women jailed in Georgia by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has been accused of covering up the widespread mistreatment by deporting survivors and witnesses.
"Irwin is the worst place I have ever been in my life."
The report, which pertains specifically to ICE's Irwin County Detention Center (ICDC) in Ocilla, Georgia, was written by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs' Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is chaired by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.).
The subcommittee investigated numerous allegations of medical abuse at the private prison--which is owned by LaSalle Southeast LLC--including alleged "high rates" of forced hysterectomies performed by Dr. Mahendra Amin, excessive and unnecessary gynecological procedures, medical neglect, and other mistreatment. LaSalle--which claims to be "run with family values"--has come under fire for proven and alleged negligent homicide, beatings, sexual assault, discrimination, and other crimes and mistreatment by staff at several of its prisons.
\u201cReminder: ICE knew as far back as 2018 about the systematic medical abuse of migrant women detained at the Irwin County Detention Center.\n\nThey refused to do anything. \n\nInstead, they promptly proceeded to cover their tracks in the fall of 2020 by deporting survivors & witnesses.\u201d— Azadeh Shahshahani (@Azadeh Shahshahani) 1668545273
While the Senate panel found no evidence of mass forced sterilizations--the two hysterectomies performed by Amin between 2017 and 2019 were deemed medically necessary--it did corroborate many other claims of detainee abuse.
Among the report's key findings:
- Female detainees appear to have been subjected to excessive, invasive, and often unnecessary gynecological procedures;
- There appears to have been repeated failures to secure informed consent for off-site medical procedures performed on ICDC detainees;
- Medical care provided to detainees at ICDC was known by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to be deficient, but neither ICE nor LaSalle took effective corrective action; and
- ICE did not conduct thorough oversight of off-site medical providers and procedures.
"This is one of the most outrageous things this subcommittee has investigated over the past two years," Ossoff said during the hearing. "This is an extraordinarily disturbing finding, and in my view represents a catastrophic failure by the federal government to respect basic human rights."
\u201cSen @ossoff: "What would you say to the women who went through this?\n\nICE Health Service Corps Asst. Director Stewart Smith: "It's disheartening."\n\nOssoff: "It's disheartening? Dr. Smith, you have full responsibility, we've established that. This is worse than disheartening."\u201d— CSPAN (@CSPAN) 1668548693
Karina Cisneros Preciado, a 23-year-old mother of two who was brought to the United States when she was eight years old and was arrested after reporting her domestic abuser, testified during the hearing that Amin attempted to force her to undergo ovarian surgery to which she did not consent and gave her a birth control injection without telling her what it was or asking permission.
"I had no control over my body," she said. "Before this experience, I had suffered sexual assault before, as a child. So... the experience with Dr. Amin made me feel the same thing I felt, it made me feel like I had no control over my body, no say, no vote."
"Irwin is the worst place I have ever been in my life," Cisneros said. "I went from being Karina, a mother, to just being 72176. They didn't care about what we felt, they didn't care about our names, they didn't care about none of that."
\u201cThank you, Senator Ossoff, for your commitment to seeking accountability for the survivors of abuse in ICE detention.\n\nWe hope that this fuels further scrutiny of the other for-profit ICE detention centers in Georgia, where abuse has gone on with impunity for too long.\u201d— CVT Georgia (@CVT Georgia) 1668544641
Cisneros said she was held at ICDC for nearly seven months, and when she was finally reunited with her daughter--an infant at the time of her arrest--the child was "already walking" and "didn't know who I was."
In related news, Common Dreams reported Tuesday that The Intercept obtained and published video footage of a hunger-striking asylum-seeker detained by ICE being force-fed--a possible violation of international law--in 2019.
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