Mike Collins wrote the Laken Riley Act, his bill introduced on January 3, 2025 and enacted that month as Public Law 119-1; it requires ICE to detain immigrants who are charged with, arrested for or convicted of theft and other crimes, and by August 2026 immigration judges are using the Laken Riley Act as justification for their detention of people never convicted. He cast deciding votes for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's House version, which passed 215 to 214, and for the Secure America Act, which passed 214 to 212 and adds $69.5 billion for ICE and Border Patrol. He also voted against a bill requiring protected status for Haitians.
Collins says his law took "over 20,000 illegal criminals off the streets", but most people in ICE detention have no criminal conviction. In Georgia, the Folkston detention center is set to expand to 3,000 beds, and in July 2026 a Venezuelan man died while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody during a transfer between two Georgia detention centers.
Mike Collins's Bill, Votes and Statements on Immigration Enforcement
- Collins Wrote the Laken Riley Act, Which Jails Immigrants Who Are Only Accused of a Crime. On January 3, 2025, Mike Collins introduced H.R. 29, the Laken Riley Act, and the bill text reads "Mr. Collins (for himself, Mr. Allen". He voted for his bill when the House passed it on January 7, 2025, and on January 22, 2025 voted for S. 5, the Senate version that became Public Law 119-1. His office called it "Rep. Mike Collins’ (GA-10) Laken Riley Act" when the President signed it. The law requires detention of an immigrant who is charged with, is arrested for, is convicted of theft and other listed crimes, so an arrest alone is enough. By August 2026, lawyers told KPBS that immigration judges are using the Laken Riley Act as justification for their detention of people never convicted, including a man held after a county judge dismissed his case in criminal court. The private prison company CoreCivic's chief executive said the law could alone generate a need for 60,000 to 110,000 new detention beds, according to the American Immigration Council.
- Collins Cast a Deciding Vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's $170.7 Billion in Immigration Enforcement Money. On May 22, 2025, Collins voted for the House version of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed 215 to 214, so it could not have passed without his vote, and on July 3, 2025 he voted for final passage of the law. It directs $170.7 billion toward immigration and border enforcement, money the American Immigration Council estimates could support a detention population of 116,000 individuals by 2029. By March 2026, nearly 70,000 people are in ICE detention, the highest number in several years, NPR reported, and More people have died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since October than in all of the previous fiscal year.
- Collins Cast a Deciding Vote for $69.5 Billion More for ICE and Border Patrol in June 2026. On June 9, 2026, Collins voted yes on S. 2, the Secure America Act, which passed the House 214 to 212; a switch by him alone would have tied it, and a tie fails. The President signed it the next day. In April he had voted for the budget resolution that set up the bill. The law gives ICE and CBP a total of $69.5 billion dollars until September 30, 2029. With the 2025 law, Congress has now provided nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars to DHS through the budget reconciliation process, the American Immigration Council wrote, and Democrats demanded reforms to immigration enforcement policies and practices. However, those efforts failed.
- Collins Voted Against Protected Status for Haitians in April 2026. On April 16, 2026, Collins voted no on H.R. 1689, which would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to designate Haiti for temporary protected status; it passed 224 to 204 over his vote, after he voted against the motion to discharge that forced it to the floor. The administration has terminated or announced its intent to terminate TPS for over 1 million of these individuals, and in June 2026 the Supreme Court issued a ruling that courts had no jurisdiction to hear challenges to the terminations, leaving people who had lived and worked legally in the United States open to deportation.
- Collins Said His Law Took "Over 20,000 Illegal Criminals Off the Streets"; Most People ICE Holds Have No Conviction. Campaigning in Cordele on May 5, 2026, Collins said the Laken Riley Act "has taken over 20,000 illegal criminals off the streets" in one year (WGXA). His own law requires detention of people charged with, arrested for or convicted of the listed crimes, not only people convicted. In August 2026, ICE data showed that of the more than 65,000 people it held, More than 70% of them do not have criminal convictions, and Cato Institute data on fiscal 2025 book-ins found 65% had no criminal convictions, and over 93% had no history of violent offenses.
What the Immigration Enforcement Mike Collins Wrote and Funded Has Meant in Georgia
- Detention growth. With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's detention money, the Folkston ICE Processing Center in Charlton County is set to expand to 3,000 beds, the largest in the nation (The Current GA).
- Deaths in custody. On July 13, 2026, Jesfas Manuel Arenas-Silva died while in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on a bus moving detainees from Ocilla to Folkston, and on April 28, 2026 Denny Adán González, 33, who died on April 28 at the Stewart Detention Center in Georgia, was held in Lumpkin, according to Hoodline and the advocacy group Detention Watch Network.
- Hyundai plant raid. On September 4, 2025, at the Hyundai-LG battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia, federal agents detained 475 people at the automaker's manufacturing complex, most of them South Korean workers, two months after Collins voted for the law that expanded ICE's budget (GPB).
Frequently Asked Questions About Mike Collins on Immigration and enforcement
What is Mike Collins's record on immigration enforcement under Trump?
Mike Collins wrote the Laken Riley Act, which requires detention of immigrants who are charged with, arrested for or convicted of theft and other crimes, and judges now use it to hold people never convicted. He cast deciding votes for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's $170.7 billion in enforcement money, in a House vote that passed 215 to 214, and for the Secure America Act's $69.5 billion more, which passed 214 to 212, and voted against protected status for Haitians. In Georgia, the Folkston detention center is expanding to 3,000 beds.
Did Mike Collins write the Laken Riley Act?
Yes. Mike Collins introduced H.R. 29, the Laken Riley Act, on January 3, 2025, and on January 22, 2025 voted for the Senate version, which became law when the President signed it on January 29, 2025. WABE notes that the law requires immigrants accused of certain crimes to be held in immigration detention, which is how a man in KPBS's reporting stayed locked up after a county judge dismissed his criminal case.
Does the Laken Riley Act only detain convicted criminals?
No. The law Mike Collins wrote requires detention of an immigrant who is charged with, is arrested for, is convicted of the listed crimes, so a charge or arrest is enough. Lawyers told KPBS in August 2026 that judges are using the Laken Riley Act as justification to keep people detained after their criminal cases were dismissed.
Do most Americans approve of how ICE is operating?
No: Mike Collins has voted for two laws that greatly expanded ICE's budget, while a Marquette Law School poll in early 2026 found 60% of adults disapprove of how ICE handles its job, while 40% of adults approve.
Last updated: 2026-10-25