WASHINGTON (TNND) — Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has introduced two new bills to increase penalties on violent protesters.
The bills specifically targets protesters who choose to attack federal agents or are in the country illegally.
On his two bills, Cotton said that “rioters of any immigration status who assault ICE officers and engage in acts of violence should face stiff consequences.”
“My bills make clear that Americans will not tolerate lawless rioting in support of illegal immigration.”
One of the two proposed bills, the No Visas for Violent Criminals Act, would immediately revoke the visas and require the deportation of any foreign nationals who are convicted of a crime tied to a protest. This could include instances such as blocking street traffic or defacing federal property.
The other bill, the Mitigating Extreme Lawlessness Act, increases the maximum punishment for participating in a riot from five to 1o years. A minimum of one year in prison would be established for participating in and riot-related act, as well as assaulting a federal law enforcement officer.
Over the weekend, protesters gathered in Los Angeles, rioting against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Cotton has been critical of how California Gov. Newsom has been handling the protests, writing, “at least BLM rioters were American citizens. In LA, we have violent illegal aliens waving foreign flags. Yet Gavin Newsom stands in solidarity with them. What kind of governor blames police officers and the National Guard for ‘inciting’ this violence? Your policies created this mess. And California deserves a lot better.”
In an email obtained by Axios, Cotton’s office said that the senator believes that the protests could be a winning issue for Republicans against the Democratic Party.
“This gives us an opportunity to remind Americans how extreme the Democratic Party is on immigration,” the email reads. “Americans have a choice between Republicans’ law & order vs. the Democrats’ car-burning, illegal alien rioters.”
On Monday, Cotton appeared on Fox News, arguing that the deployment of federal resources to the Los Angeles protests was not “provocative,” but the protesters were.
“It’s not provocative to enforce federally. It’s not provocative to do what President Trump campaigned on,” Cotton said during his appearance, “What’s provocative is to have all of these illegal aliens setting cars on fire while waving foreign flags, and now being led by professional agitators from Antifa and pro-Hamas sympathizers.”
Newsom is currently suing Trump over sending over 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles without his approval. On Tuesday, a San Francisco judge denied Newsom’s request for an emergency order to block Trump from militarizing Los Angeles.
According to Cotton, the law is on Trump’s side as “the National Guard traditionally operating under the governor’s authorities, can be federalized, can be used by the president to restore basic order and to enforce federal law.”
The Los Angeles immigration protests have been ongoing since Friday.
