Mike Collins of Georgia wrote the Laken Riley Act (H.R. 29), which requires the government to detain an immigrant who is charged with, is arrested for theft or other listed crimes, without a conviction; lawyers say judges hold people under it even after their criminal case is dismissed. He also voted for final passage of the 2025 law whose Medicaid work requirement exempts people leaving prison for only three months.
In January 2025, Collins welcomed the promised January 6 pardons in a post calling the crowd "peaceful grandmothers"; at least 97 clemency recipients were later arrested, charged or convicted in other cases.
Mike Collins's Law, Votes and Statements on Detention, Reentry and the January 6 Pardons
- Collins Wrote the Laken Riley Act, Which Requires Jailing Immigrants on an Arrest or Charge Alone, Without a Conviction. On January 3, 2025, Mike Collins introduced H.R. 29, the Laken Riley Act (bill text: Mr. Collins (for himself, Mr. Allen); he voted for it when the House passed it on January 7, 2025 and voted for S. 5, the Senate version that became Public Law 119-1, on January 22, 2025. His office called it Rep. Mike Collins’ (GA-10) Laken Riley Act. The law requires the government to detain an immigrant who is charged with, is arrested for, is convicted of theft, burglary, shoplifting and other listed crimes, so an arrest is enough. By August 2026, lawyers told KPBS that immigration judges are using the Laken Riley Act as justification for their detention, including a man who was stuck in jail for a month-and-a-half on a charge a county court had dismissed. Of the people in ICE detention, More than 70% of them do not have criminal convictions, KPBS reported from ICE data.
- Collins Voted for a Medicaid Work Requirement That Exempts People Leaving Prison for Only Three Months. On July 3, 2025, Collins voted for final passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, after voting for the House version, which passed 215 to 214. In the states that expanded Medicaid, the law's work requirement exempts a person leaving jail or prison only if at any point during the 3-month period ending on the first day of such month, the individual was an inmate of a public institution; after that, they must document work or lose coverage, starting on January 1, 2027 in most states. In the first two weeks after release, former inmates were 40 times more likely than members of the general population to suffer a fatal overdose, according to a study cited by MindSite News.
- Collins Welcomed the Promised January 6 Pardons in January 2025; At Least 97 Recipients Were Later Arrested or Charged in Other Cases. On January 6, 2025, Collins posted that on January 6, 2021 thousands of peaceful grandmothers gathered in Washington, and wrote that Trump will grant pardons to nonviolent defendants. Two weeks later the President commuted 14 sentences and issued a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to January 6, violent or not. In 2023 Collins had posted, "Release all J6 political prisoners now". The attack had injured more than 140 law enforcement officers, and Lawfare found that At least 97 of the more than 1,500 individuals granted clemency by the President were later arrested, charged or convicted in other cases.
What the Detention and Pardon Record of Mike Collins Means in Georgia
- Detention in Georgia. With the 2025 law's detention money, the ICE Processing Center in Folkston, Georgia, is growing: Folkston is set to expand to 3,000 beds, the largest in the nation, The Current GA reported.
- Pardoned Georgian. In Savannah, a pardoned January 6 defendant who asked Collins about payouts was part of a group that pushed through officers at the entryway to the Capitol Crypt, according to court documents cited by the Georgia Recorder.
Frequently Asked Questions About Mike Collins on Criminal justice
What is Mike Collins's record on policing and criminal justice under Trump?
Mike Collins of Georgia wrote the Laken Riley Act, which requires jailing an immigrant who is charged with, is arrested for a listed crime, without a conviction, and he welcomed the January 6 pardons in a January 2025 post. He also voted for the 2025 law whose Medicaid work requirement exempts people leaving prison for only three months.
Does Mike Collins support compensating January 6 defendants?
Mike Collins answered "That’s easy, yes sir" when a pardoned January 6 defendant asked in August 2026 whether he would support payments to January 6 defendants (Georgia Recorder). The proposed compensation fund was never created: Blanche formally rescinded the plan before his confirmation as attorney general.
Does the Laken Riley Act require a conviction before detention?
No. The Laken Riley Act that Mike Collins wrote requires detention of an immigrant who is charged with, is arrested for, is convicted of a listed crime, so an arrest alone is enough, and lawyers told KPBS that judges have held people under it even after a county court dismissed their criminal case.
Last updated: 2026-10-25