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 bill, which would require federal authorities to detain undocumented immigrants arrested for theft-related crimes, was the first to be voted on by the newly installed Republican-controlled Senate.