The measure, which increases deportations for undocumented migrants charged with crimes, is likely to be the first bill to reach President Trump’s desk. It must pass one more House vote to clear Congress.
The Senate on Monday approved a bill that would mandate detentions and potential deportations for undocumented migrants charged with certain crimes, setting it on a glide path to clear Congress this week and be signed by President Trump.
In a vote of 64 to 35 just hours after Mr. Trump was sworn in, 12 Democrats joined Republicans to approve the bill, reflecting a growing bipartisan consensus around clamping down on those who have entered the country without authorization.
That sent the measure back to the House, which passed it with bipartisan support this month and is expected to give it final approval this week. It all but guaranteed that the legislation would be quickly signed by Mr. Trump, who on Monday began his promised immigration crackdown as he started his second term.
The bill, called the Laken Riley Act, is named for 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 in a shoplifting case, but had not been detained.
Passage in the Senate came after Republicans and Democrats spent last week debating changes to the bill, a process that exposed deep divisions among Democrats over immigration as some in the party move to the right following their party’s electoral losses in November. The bill was the opening legislative move for Republicans in a broader push to crack down on immigration and significantly step up deportations, a promise that Mr. Trump made a centerpiece of his campaign.
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. Senators added assaulting a police officer and crimes that result in death or serious bodily injury to the expanded list.