Washington, D.C. – In response to growing threats from violent cartels, terrorist networks, and lawless sanctuary cities, Congresswoman Sheri Biggs (R-SC-03) has introduced two national security bills to stop the flow of fentanyl, restore immigration enforcement, and protect American communities.
The legislation comes on the heels of unrest in Los Angeles, where ICE enforcement actions led to protests. As a self-declared sanctuary city, Los Angeles has refused to cooperate with federal immigration authorities — endangering public safety and undermining U.S. law.
Biggs’s 3rd Congressional District includes Laurens County.
“Americans are watching sanctuary cities spiral out of control, while cartel-backed traffickers smuggle poison into our neighborhoods,” said Congresswoman Biggs. “These bills deliver real consequences to those who aid our enemies and defy our laws.”
No Passports for Terrorists and Traffickers Act
This legislation would empower the Secretary of State to revoke or deny U.S. passports to individuals charged with or convicted of terrorism-related crimes, including those providing material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).
Between 2019 and 2024, over 80% of fentanyl trafficked through U.S. Ports of Entry was smuggled by American citizens — many working with foreign criminal networks and terrorist-affiliated cartels.
“If you’re working with terrorists or drug cartels, you shouldn’t be able to use an American passport to move freely around the world,” said Congresswoman Biggs. “This bill closes that loophole and helps stop the flow of deadly drugs across our borders.”
Congresswoman Biggs was joined by eight of her colleagues, including Reps. Ralph Norman, Ryan Zinke, Barry Moore, Buddy Carter, John McGuire, Marlin Stutzman, Addison McDowell, and Greg Steube.
Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Act
Co-led by Rep. Brandon Gill, and cosponsored by Reps. Claudia Tenney, Byron Donalds, Rudy Yakym, Anna Paulina Luna, Addison McDowell, Ashley Hinson, Chuck Edwards, Jack Bergman, and Ryan Zinke, this bill blocks federal financial assistance for one year to any city or state that refuses to honor ICE detainers or restricts communication with the Department of Homeland Security.
Under the Biden Administration, FEMA has spent over $1 billion helping sanctuary jurisdictions manage illegal immigration. New York City alone has spent more than $7 billion since FY23 — straining public services and rewarding lawlessness.
“This bill makes it simple: if you want federal tax dollars, you need to follow federal law,” said Congresswoman Biggs.
These bills are supported by national security and immigration-focused organizations including the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and the Immigration Accountability Project.
“The No Passports for Terrorists and Traffickers Act strengthens U.S. national security by ensuring that individuals charged with or convicted of providing material support to terrorists cannot travel internationally under a U.S. passport,” said Alexandria Paolozzi, Director of Government Relations at FDD Action. “By making passport denial and revocation mandatory for such individuals and closing current loopholes, this legislation addresses a key vulnerability that terrorists, their supporters, and U.S. adversaries could otherwise exploit.”
“Jurisdictions that block the enforcement of federal immigration law undermine the integrity of the immigration system and put the entire country at risk. We are grateful to Congresswoman Biggs for introducing the Mobilizing Against Sanctuary Cities Act, which would tie federal financial assistance to cooperation with lawful detainers and requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, helping to keep criminal illegal aliens off our streets,” Grant Newman, Director of Government Relations at Immigration Accountability Project.
“If any city refuses to comply with the laws of our nation, blatantly works against the Department of Homeland Security, and wastes billions of taxpayer dollars shielding illegal aliens at the risk of American citizens, then they should be cut off from receiving even a penny of federal funding,” said Rep. Gill. “I am proud to join Rep. Sheri Biggs in introducing legislation that puts our national security first and upholds law and order. Under President Trump, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security are keeping our communities secure and prosperous!”
The Unbearable Familiarity of Force in Los Angeles
by Wim Laven
I’ve seen this story before. The images coming out of Los Angeles—militarized streets, protesters met with force, another round of justifications for escalation—hit me with the dull weight of déjà vu. It’s not that I’m shocked. It’s that I remember.
My political awakening happened in California. I was 13 years old when I saw the Rodney King video. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I asked my father how it could be possible—how people with badges and nightsticks could commit such violence and walk away unpunished. The following year, the city exploded. The 1992 uprising etched itself into my memory—not as lawlessness, but as outrage born of injustice and mismanagement. I’ve spent years studying those events, learning what we could’ve done better. We should’ve de-escalated, we should’ve listened, we should’ve shown restraint.
But we didn’t. And we still aren’t.
Years later, I found myself in Cleveland, marching peacefully to protest the killing of George Floyd. I wasn’t near any confrontation or property damage, but tear gas was deployed indiscriminately. The burn in my eyes and throat lingered for hours. Despite decades of practicing and preaching nonviolence, I felt a rage stir in me that I had forgotten. I didn’t act on it, but I understood in that moment how state aggression can turn even the most peaceful among us toward hopelessness or fury. I remembered the graffiti from '92: “You did this.”
Escalation invites escalation. It’s predictable. It’s avoidable. And it happens anyway. The National Guard is not trained in the nuance of civilian crowd control. Their presence often exacerbates tension. It tells the public: we are at war with ourselves. It tells communities: we do not trust you—truth is always a casualty. And it signals to law enforcement: anything goes.
Meanwhile, the politics behind these deployments reveal everything about our national priorities. I’ll never forget January 6th, 2021—when a violent mob stormed the Capitol and Trump did nothing. No tear gas, no troops, no swift and visible response. We were told to be patient. Contrast that with the armored vehicles that meet peaceful immigrants’ rights protests, or the overwhelming force deployed in Black and brown neighborhoods when people demand accountability. The hypocrisy isn’t just galling—it’s deadly.
And Americans are noticing.
A majority of Americans have consistently opposed mass deportations. Overall, Trump’s approval has plummeted—the lowest 100-day rating of any modern president. The New York Times reports that 66 percent of voters describe Trump’s second term as “chaotic,” and 59 percent as “scary.” These aren’t just immigration figures—they're indictments of a cruelty-as-policy approach. People are not just dissatisfied—they’re alarmed.
We protest because we still believe in democracy. Dissent is not a threat; it’s a patriotic obligation. We demand that the laborers, caregivers, coaches, teachers, and neighbors among us—regardless of citizenship status—be treated as the human beings they are, not threats. The lie that they are terrorists must end.
When protected speech is met with troops, when dissent is painted as chaos, and when a government rewards violence with silence and punishes peace with brutality, we are no longer in a democracy—we are teetering on the edge and sliding to something else.
I can’t watch what’s happening in Los Angeles because I’ve watched it before. I’ve felt it. I’ve tasted the tear gas. I’ve studied the history. And I know where the road we are on leads. We can still choose a different one. But that choice will require courage—not from the protesters, who are already showing it, but from those in power who must finally listen, and honor the oaths they swore.
No more lies. No more hypocrisy. No more silence in the face of force.
~~~~~~~~
Wim Laven, Ph.D., syndicated by PeaceVoice, teaches courses in political science and conflict resolution.
State-federal tensions over ICE rise as Trump deploys troops against Los Angeles protests
BY: JACOB FISCHLER - JUNE 9, 2025 7:30 PM
President Donald Trump called for California Gov. Gavin Newsom to be arrested Monday and dispatched Marines to Los Angeles, shortly after Trump’s mobilization this weekend of California National Guard troops to quell protests without the governor’s consent.
Protests of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents’ activity in Los Angeles sparked a weekend of conflict between protesters and federal agents downtown and in nearby Paramount, California. Newsom on Monday said California is suing the administration over the violation of its state sovereignty.
Trump told reporters on the White House South Lawn that he endorsed the idea of White House border czar Tom Homan arresting Newsom. Homan had said elected officials could be arrested for impeding raids by ICE agents.
Newsom on Sunday challenged Homan, saying, “Come after me, arrest me, let’s get it over with, tough guy.”
“I’d do it if I were Tom,” Trump said when asked if Homan should arrest Newsom. “I think it’s great. Gavin likes the publicity…. He’s done a terrible job. I like Gavin Newsom, he’s a nice guy but he’s grossly incompetent, everybody knows.”
Newsom, a Democrat, has framed the conflict with the White House as a fundamental test of every state’s ability to self-govern.
“This is a preview for things to come,” he told the progressive podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen in a clip the governor’s X account shared Monday morning. “This isn’t about LA, per se. It’s about us today. It’s about you, everyone watching, tomorrow. I promise you. I mean, this guy is unhinged. Donald Trump is unhinged right now.”
Marines deploying
About 700 U.S. Marines will travel to Los Angeles as part of the federal response, according to the U.S. military, with the objective of “protecting federal personnel and federal property in the greater Los Angeles area.” CNN first reported the Marines’ mobilization. The move could further aggravate the state-federal tension surrounding the protests.
That deployment followed Sunday’s mobilization by Trump of 2,000 California National Guard members, even as Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass vocally objected, saying the troops’ presence would only inflame the situation.
It marked the first time since 1965 — when President Lyndon Johnson sent troops to Alabama to protect civil rights protesters — that a president deployed the National Guard to a state over the governor’s objections.
Trump has also not ruled out invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act to take greater operational control of the situation. He and allies have referred to the protesters as “insurrectionists” several times.
He told reporters Sunday night that he was not invoking the act, which allows the president to use the military domestically, saying a decision to do so would depend “on whether or not there’s an insurrection.” On Monday, he said “insurrectionists” were causing problems in California.
According to CalMatters, “protesters on Sunday faced off with police officers who fired dozens of less-lethal rounds attempting to disperse people in the streets surrounding the 300 North Los Angeles Federal Building.
“At least two self-driving vehicles were set on fire near the protest, and police continued to pepper the rally with rubber bullets well into the late afternoon.”
Law and order
Trump, who took hours on Jan. 6, 2021, to implore his supporters storming the U.S. Capitol to disperse, and later pardoned hundreds of people charged with crimes that day, has said repeatedly controlling the California protests is necessary to protect ICE agents and Californians from protesters.
Trump has called “law and order” a top priority and has floated extreme methods to preserve order.
Asked Sunday about what the bar should be for sending U.S. Marines to Los Angeles, he responded, “The bar is what I think it is.”
On X, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested Marines could be used in the situation.
“The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE,” he posted Sunday.
State sovereignty at issue
Newsom and other Democrats have called the deployment of National Guard troops a violation of state sovereignty.
Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta said they’d filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the move on 10th Amendment grounds. The Constitution’s 10th Amendment protects states’ rights.
“Donald Trump is creating fear and terror by failing to adhere to the U.S. Constitution and overstepping his authority. This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic,” said Newsom in a written statement announcing the suit.
“Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach. This is beyond incompetence — this is him intentionally causing chaos, terrorizing communities, and endangering the principles of our great democracy. It is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism. We will not let this stand.”
A copy of the lawsuit was not immediately available Monday.
Newsom won backing from his Democratic colleagues across the country, including a Sunday statement from the Democratic Governors Association, a political group that includes every blue-state governor in the country.
“President Trump’s move to deploy California’s National Guard is an alarming abuse of power,” the governors said. “Governors are the Commanders in Chief of their National Guard and the federal government activating them in their own borders without consulting or working with a state’s governor is ineffective and dangerous. Further, threatening to send the U.S. Marines into American neighborhoods undermines the mission of our service members, erodes public trust, and shows the Trump administration does not trust local law enforcement.”
Republican governors saw the issue differently, backing Trump and praising his approach to law enforcement.
“Every Democrat governor just endorsed lawlessness and chaos on American streets,” the RGA said on social media in response to the DGA statement.
Republicans in Congress broadcast similar messages, describing the deployment as a step toward law and order.
“If Gavin Newsom won’t enforce the law, President Trump will,” Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin wrote on X.
Jacob covers federal policy and helps direct national coverage as deputy Washington bureau chief for States Newsroom. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.
SC Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
