All Republicans and 48 Democrats voted to pass the bill in a 264-159 vote that will allow federal authorities to detain illegal immigrants guilty of theft-related crimes, as well as give states the ability to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration.

That is more Democrats than the 37 who voted for the bill in the last Congress, which was stalled in the Senate due to Democratic leadership.

The bill is one of 12 legislative priorities that Republicans included in their rules legislation, which was adopted Friday following the swearing-in of members and the speakership election.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Tuesday ahead of the bill’s passage that “as promised, we’re starting today with border security.”

“If you polled the populace and the voters, they would tell you that that was the top of the list, and we have a lot to do there to fix it,” Johnson said, blasting President Joe Biden’s immigration and border policies.

“There are real consequences to policy decisions. This one was deadly,” Johnson added, referring to the death of the bill’s namesake, Laken Riley, at the hands of an illegal immigrant while jogging on the University of Georgia’s campus.

The Laken Riley Act now heads for a vote in the Senate, where it must overcome a 60-vote threshold. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the first Democrat to sign on to the legislation, and other swing and border state Democrats have expressed an openness to passing it ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) said with Trump in the White House, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) in control, and “the party of lawlessness” out of the way, Republicans can take action against “criminal illegal aliens.”

“The tragic and preventable murder of Laken Riley serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of failed leadership,” Emmer said.

Democrats argued against the bill, with a House Democratic whip notice alerting members that House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) “strongly opposes” the bill.

“I understand as a mother myself fully why in the face of such senseless violence, especially against someone so young, there is an urge to do something, anything, to feel like you are actually helping to fix the problem,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA).

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“Unfortunately, this bill does nothing to fix the immigration system or to prevent future tragedies like this,” Jayapal continued. “It is simply an attempt to score cheap political points off of a tragic death.”

Democrats opposing the Laken Riley Act have pointed instead to a bipartisan Senate border security and foreign aid bill that Trump told Republicans to kill ahead of his immigration-centric reelection campaign. Several Democrats want broader asylum and immigration reforms instead of pushing political bills they say do little to fix the underlying problems.