Summary
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says he’s considering pulling US customs agents from airports in sanctuary cities – a move that could upend international travel to and from some of the country’s busiest airports. Mullin said he was considering the change because “I believe sanctuary cities is not lawful.” Republicans and Democrats remain in a pitched political battle over funding for ICE and Border Patrol.
Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into a law a bill that allows the state to designate terrorist groups, then punish those who promote them. Critics say the law will threaten free speech, especially on school campuses. The bill specifics bars the state’s courts from enforcing foreign religious laws, specifically naming Sharia Law. Florida courts enforce secular laws passed in the state, however.
Representative Yassamin Ansari, an Arizona Democrat, will introduce impeachment articles next week against defense secretary Pete Hegseth. “Only Congress has the power to declare war, not a rogue president or his lackeys,” Ansari said in a statement.
Donald Trump reiterated his threats to bomb Iranian energy and civilian infrastructure if the White House does not reach a deal to reopen the Straight of Hormuz by tomorrow at 8pm ET. “The entire country can be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” Trump said during a 90-minute press conference Monday afternoon.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican culture warrior, signed into law a measure that would allow the state’s chief of domestic security to designate terrorist groups and punish their purported supporters.
The law has raised first amendment concerns, particularly for students. The law provides for the immediate expulsion of students found to “promote” a state-designated terrorist group The term “promote” is exceedingly vague, critics say.
DeSantis said in a statement that the law was necessary to “defend our institutions from those who would harm us—especially terrorist organizations that seek to infiltrate and subvert our education system.”
The bill follows an executive order from DeSantis that designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhood as domestic terrorist organizations. CAIR is one of the country’s most prominent muslim civil rights groups.
US district judge Mark Walker temporarily blocked DeSantis’s order last month, issuing a stern ruling. “The First Amendment bars the Governor from continuing the troubling trend of using an executive office to make a political statement at the expense of others’ constitutional rights.”
The bill also bars the state’s courts from enforcing religious laws, making specific mention of Sharia law. State courts typically enforce secular laws passed legislatures, rather than foreign religious laws.
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