More than half the U.S. Senate's Democrats joined with Republicans on Thursday to advance a bill that would require the federal government to detain migrants living in the country illegally who are suspected of crimes,

A significant number of Senate Democrats voted with Republicans on Thursday to advance a GOP-led bill to require the detention of undocumented migrants charged with certain crimes – a key step that puts the legislation on the verge of passage.

By a whopping 84-9 margin, the Republican-controlled Senate on Thursday voted to advance the Laken Riley Act, an immigration enforcement bill named after a college student killed last year by a man who had crossed the southern border illegally.

The Senate cleared the 60-vote threshold to begin debate on a GOP priority, with Democrats backing it as the party recalibrates politically on immigration. Final passage is still uncertain.

The new Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed its first bill Tuesday, the Laken Riley Act, named for the 22-year-old Georgia nursing school student killed by a Venezuelan immigrant living in the country without legal permission.

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