Washington
CNN
—

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

The bill gained growing support from Senate Democrats, including from battleground states that President-elect Donald Trump won last fall after leaving the House of Representatives earlier this week.

After an election cycle in which Republicans have attacked the party as weak on the border, Democrats are under pressure to show they will take action on immigration policy. After Trump’s victory, some Democrats said the party needed to do more to address voters’ concerns on the issue.

If the bill ultimately passes the Senate, it will provide an early victory for Republicans, who have decided to bring the legislation up as their first bill in the new Congress since they now control both chambers.

The bill would require the detention of undocumented immigrants accused of theft or burglary. The law is named after a Georgia student who was killed while running last year. An undocumented migrant from Venezuela was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole in the case that reignited a national debate about immigration and crime.

The bill still faces hurdles and it is uncertain whether it will reach the finish line in the Senate.

While some Democrats have said they fully support the bill, others have said they want to make changes to it and are seeking a robust amendment process, representing an early leadership test for Senate GOP Leader John Thune.

The new Senate GOP leader faces a delicate balance. Republicans support the bill in its current form and are likely to balk if Democrats push for sweeping changes. The Republican majority in the Senate also has a packed to-do list of agenda items competing for floor time and will not want to drag out deliberations on the bill.

But if Democrats are unhappy with the outcome of their amendment efforts, the measure could still stall and fail to make it to final passage in the House.

“Democrats want to have a robust debate where we can introduce amendments and improve the bill,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said before the Senate vote. “This is an important topic. We should have a debate and amendments and that is why I am voting yes to the continuation motion. I would like to remind my colleagues that this is not a vote on the bill itself. It is a motion to proceed, a vote that says we should have a debate and table amendments.”

Republican Sen. John Barrasso, the Senate majority leader, said in his remarks, “There are some Democratic senators who say they support the Laken Riley Act but want to weaken it.” To be clear, Senate Republicans are weakening it life-saving legislation. We won’t allow that.”

Senate Republicans control 53 seats. Typically, that would mean at least seven Democrats would have to vote with Republicans to reach the 60-vote threshold and advance a bill subject to a filibuster. But new Republican Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia, who wanted to delay his swearing-in to finish his term as governor, is not expected to take his seat until next week, which meant Republicans needed at least eight Democrats to support the bill so that it can move forward.

The House voted 264-159 to pass the bill on Tuesday, with 48 Democrats voting with Republican support.