With other state lawmakers seated around her in the Ohio House, Democratic state Rep. Tavia Galonski got to her feet and began to loudly chant, ‘One person, one vote!’

The former Teamster’s cry spread quickly through the visitors gallery, then began to rise from the throng of protesters gathered outside in the statehouse rotunda. Struggling to be heard over the din, the Republican speaker ordered spectators cleared from the chamber.

Last week’s striking scene came as Ohio joined a growing number of Republican-leaning states that are moving to undermine direct democracy by restricting citizens’ ability to bypass lawmakers through ballot initiatives and constitutional amendments.

The Ohio proposal will ask voters during an August special election to boost the threshold for passing constitutional amendments to 60% rather than a simple majority. It also would double the number of counties where signatures must be collected, adding an extra layer of difficulty to qualifying initiatives for the ballot.

The Missouri Legislature failed to approve a similar measure on Friday, but Republicans vowed to bring the issue back in 2024 in an attempt to head off a citizens’ attempt to restore abortion rights in the state through a constitutional amendment.

A similar measure will be on North Dakota’s ballot next year, while one in the works in Idaho would ask voters to increase signature requirements imposed on petition gatherers. In Wisconsin, which does not allow statewide citizen initiatives, Republicans who control the Legislature have proposed prohibiting local governments from placing advisory questions on ballots. Such referenda are sometimes used to boost voter turnout, though results don’t carry the weight of law. Florida Republicans added new hurdles to that state’s constitutional amendment process in 2020.

The trend has taken off as Democrats and left-leaning groups frustrated by legislative gerrymandering that locks them out of power in state legislatures are increasingly turning to the initiative process to force public votes on issues that are opposed by Republican lawmakers yet popular among voters. Only about half the states, mostly in the Western U.S., allow some form of citizen ballot initiative.

In Ohio, voters have proposed using the initiative process to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution this November, as well as to increase the minimum wage, to legalize recreational marijuana and to reform a redistricting system that has produced persistently unconstitutional political maps favoring Republicans.

Arkansas Sen. Bryan King, a Republican who has joined the League of Women Voters in a lawsuit challenging his state’s latest initiative restriction, said he views efforts to undermine the initiative process as anti-democratic.

A measure approved earlier this year by Arkansas’ majority-GOP Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders makes it harder to get initiatives on the ballot by raising the number of counties where signatures must be gathered from 15 to 50.

‘I think one of the things it does is, no matter what party is in power, when you start trying to make it harder for citizens to challenge what their government does or make changes, then it just makes people not have faith in the process,’ King said. ‘So I do think that making it harder is wrong.’

In Ohio, former governors and attorneys general of both major parties have lined up against the proposed constitutional amendment that would alter the simple majority threshold for passing citizen-led initiative that has been in place since 1912.

Democratic legislators point to the bipartisan opposition and the maneuvering that allowed the proposal to be on an August ballot as evidence that today’s Republicans are extremist in their desire to maintain political power.

Republican state Rep. Brian Stewart, the Ohio plan’s sponsor, argued during last week’s raucous floor session that a simple majority of voters will get to decide whether to impose the stricter requirements on future ballot initiatives.

‘SJR 2 will ask Ohioans, not us, whether Ohio’s constitution should require a 60% vote threshold to adopt amendments going forward. It will ask Ohioans, not us, to decide whether all 88 counties should have a voice in determining what amendments make it onto the ballot and to eliminate the cumbersome ‘cure’ period, which gives initiative petitions effectively a do-over when they fail to meet the requirements for ballot access,’ he said. ‘Putting this issue in front of Ohioans, that is democratic.’

What Stewart didn’t address is how Republicans circumvented a law they had just passed so they could put the proposed amendment on a summertime ballot when voter turnout is typically quite low, rather than putting it before voters in the regular election this November.

Democratic Rep. Casey Weinstein called out Stewart and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, for previously opposing the very August special elections that they supported for offering the 60% question.

Weinstein read in its entirety LaRose’s testimony from December advocating for the provisions of a new law — signed in January — that eliminated most August elections. LaRose argued that making big decisions, including those regarding ballot issues, in chronically low-turnout August elections ‘isn’t the way democracy is supposed to work’ and that such elections ‘aren’t good for taxpayers, election officials or the civic health of our state.’

In testimony, Mark Gavin Sr., outreach director for the Black Environmental Leaders Association, referred to the U.S. Constitution’s counting of enslaved people by calling the Ohio proposal ‘the new Three-Fifths Compromise.’

Gavin was among hundreds of protesters who packed statehouse hearings and overflow rooms, testified and marched in opposition to the Republican proposal, which he said is intended to dilute the power of individual voters.

‘I’ve been a voter in Ohio for 15 years, and it’s getting really old to always have to have new rules and regulations on a ballot,’ he said.

Anti-abortion and pro-gun groups were the primary forces behind the push in favor of the proposed Ohio amendment. Since the Supreme Court’s decision last year overturning Roe v. Wade, voters in Michigan, Kentucky and Kansas have protected abortion rights through statewide votes.

David Couch, an attorney who has worked on citizens’ initiatives in Arkansas, said Republicans’ efforts to thwart direct democracy are uniquely partisan.

‘If you look in Arkansas history in the ’90s, when the Democrats controlled Arkansas, the conservative right passed same-sex marriage amendments, they passed adoption amendments,’ he said. ‘They passed all sorts of reforms, and the Democrats didn’t try to change the process.’

Democrats in Missouri did try to cripple the initiative process through legislation in 1992. Then-Gov. John Ashcroft, a Republican who went on to serve as U.S. attorney general, vetoed the bill. Ashcroft’s son, Jay, is the state’s current secretary of state.

‘It is through the initiative process that those who have no influence with elective representatives may take their cause directly to the people,’ the elder Ashcroft said in a veto letter that became part of this year’s debate. ‘The General Assembly should be reluctant, therefore, to enact legislation which places any impediments on the initiative power which are inconsistent with the reservation found in the Constitution.’

Missouri’s Republican lawmakers are singing a different tune today. Fearing a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights, they vowed last week to make it a priority in 2024 to adopt a ballot measure that would establish a 57% threshold for passing future amendments.

Not all Republicans in the state think that’s a good idea. Former Republican House Speaker Pro Tem Carl Bearden said the proposal would infringe on the rights of Missouri voters while noting that the initiative process is intended to be a check on the power of the Legislature.

‘It is not a conservative policy,’ he said of the Republican plan.

Former President Trump attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his abortion stance on Monday, suggesting in an interview that Florida’s six-week ban was ‘too harsh.’

Trump made the statement in a wide-ranging interview with The Messenger published on Monday. Trump refused to elaborate on his own stance regarding abortion, however, instead claiming to have heard that pro-life voters opposed DeSantis’ bill.

‘He has to do what he has to do,’ Trump said when asked about Florida’s six-week ban. ‘If you look at what DeSantis did, a lot of people don’t even know if he knew what he was doing. But he signed six weeks, and many people within the pro-life movement feel that that was too harsh.’

When asked about whether he would support a six-week ban, Trump replied, ‘I’m looking at all options.’

Trump also confirmed in the interview that he supported exceptions in abortion legislation for ‘the life of the mother, raping and incest.’

‘Just as Ronald Reagan was a believer in the exceptions, but I’m a believer in the exceptions,’ he added.

DeSantis’ abortion bill, signed in mid-April, bans most abortions beyond six weeks but includes exceptions for rape and incest. Existing state exceptions for the life of the mother also remain in place. 

Rather than get specific on his abortion stance, Trump went on to tout his role in overturning Roe v. Wade, saying he was the only president who could have done so.

‘For 50 years, they’ve been trying to get rid of Roe v Wade. I was able to do it. Nobody else could have done that but me. And I was able to do it [by nominating] three excellent judges on the Justices of the Supreme Court. And I was able to do that,’ he said.

‘I’m looking at all alternatives. I’m looking at many alternatives,’ Trump added when asked if six weeks was too harsh. ‘But I was able to get us to the table by terminating Roe v. Wade. That’s the most important thing that’s ever happened for the pro-life movement.’

It is unclear who Trump was referring to when he stated that ‘many people within the pro-life movement’ opposed DeSantis’ bill.

Students For Life President Kristan Hawkins thanked the Florida governor after he signed the legislation in April, saying, ‘Florida will no longer be the fifth highest abortion state in the nation thanks to the Heartbeat Protection Act. Thank you @GovRonDeSantis for having the courage to do the right thing. You are setting the standard for GOP and they should follow your lead.’

Conservative legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom also celebrated the signing.

‘By enacting the Heartbeat Protection Act, Florida is continuing its work to protect the health of pregnant mothers, the dignity of the unborn, and the integrity of the medical profession.  We commend @GovRonDeSantis for taking a stand to preserve life,’ the organization said.

Pro-life activist Abby Johnson claimed DeSantis signing the bill is ‘one step closer to protecting children from the moment of conception just like they deserve.’

Live Action founder and pro-life activist Lila Rose also praised DeSantis’ move at the time. She tweeted, ‘BREAKING: @RonDeSantisFL has signed a bill protecting most preborn children 6 weeks gestational age and older from the violence of abortion! This is a big win for Florida and the nation. The next step is completely ending abortion and protecting all of Florida’s children.’

FIRST ON FOX – Former Vice President Mike Pence returns next month to Iowa – the state whose caucuses lead off the GOP presidential nominating calendar – to take part in an annual motorcycle ride that benefits veterans, as he gears up for his expected entry into the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race.

Fox News has learned that Pence will ride in Sen. Joni Ernst’s, R-Iowa, annual ‘Roast and Ride’ motorcycle ride on Saturday, June 3 – a vital stop on the Iowa Republican political calendar. The event this year benefits the Freedom Foundation, an organization supporting veterans based in Cedar Rapids.

Ernst, who served in the Iraq War during her more than two decades as an officer in the Iowa Army National Guard, has invited all the confirmed and potential GOP White House contenders to take part in her annual ride through parts of Des Moines and ensuing rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

Among those invited are former President Donald Trump, who is making his third straight White House run and is currently the overwhelming front-runner in the Republican primary battle, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who remains on the 2024 sidelines but is expected to launch a campaign in the coming weeks.

The senator announced last week that former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, who later served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, would be participating in the ‘Roast and Ride.’

In a statement announcing the former vice president’s participation in her ‘Roast and Ride,’ Ernst said that ‘as a fellow motorcycle fan, Mike will also be joining me on my Ride to benefit Iowa’s Freedom Foundation.’

Pence, who rode a Harley-Davidson motorcycle as the then-vice president took part Ernst’s event six years ago, said in a statement to Fox News on Monday that ‘wherever Joni Ernst asks me to be, I will be.’

He continued: ‘As proud parents of a Marine pilot, Karen and I understand the importance of giving back to organizations like Cedar Rapids’ own Freedom Foundation, an incredible veterans support charity. I am honored that Joni has once again asked me to join her annual Roast and Ride and look forward to being back with the people of Iowa soon!’

Pence, who’s made numerous trips to Iowa and the other early voting presidential nominating states the past two years, has said he’ll make a decision on launching a presidential campaign in the coming weeks.

Taking aim at President Biden and the Democratic National Committee for their move earlier this year to bump Iowa from its leadoff position in the Democrats’ presidential nominating calendar, the senator emphasized that ‘even though Joe Biden and the national Democrats ditched Iowa, Republicans are maintaining our FIRST in the nation status. My annual Roast and Ride is THE event to be at in 2023. It’s the perfect opportunity to engage directly with Iowans from all corners of the state.’  

Ernst launched her annual ride soon after winning election to the Senate in 2014. She said at the time that her goal was to showcase her party’s top candidates, just as former longtime Sen. Tom Harkin, of Iowa, had done with his annual ‘steak fry’ for Democratic presidential hopefuls.

Ernst, along with the rest of Iowa’s all Republican congressional delegation, is staying neutral as the GOP presidential contenders battle in out in Iowa’s caucuses.

The senator, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is also hosting foreign policy and national security policy discussions with the White House hopefuls. 

Both Haley and Pence have already taken part in the discussion that Ernst hosts with the Bastion Institute, a think tank whose goal is ‘to discuss the path toward strengthening America’s leadership and standing on the international stage.’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis met with Iowa voters in Des Moines after former President Donald Trump canceled his event there, sparking debate about the reason for Trump’s change of plans.

After a packed day of events in Sioux Center and Cedar Rapids, DeSantis made a surprise trip to Des Moines to talk to voters at Jethro’s BBQ Southside, just minutes from where Trump cited the potential for severe weather in canceling his planned Des Moines rally.

DeSantis, who has not yet announced a bid for president and has avoided directly addressing the former president, appeared to take a jab at Trump while in Des Moines, remarking that it was a ‘beautiful night.’

‘My better half and I have been able to be all over Iowa today, but before we went back to Florida we wanted to come by and say hi to the people of Des Moines,’ DeSantis told those gathered at the BBQ joint, according to the New York Times. ‘So thank you all for coming out. It’s a beautiful night, it’s been a great day for us.’

The surprise appearance came after Trump’s planned rally in Des Moines was abruptly canceled Saturday. While the campaign cited tornado watches and the potential for severe weather, the explanation drew skepticism from Iowa officials and speculation online that the former president may have feared a smaller than expected crowd at the event.

‘In the interest of the safety for everyone in Iowa at the sold-out event in Des Moines, due to the National Weather Service’s Tornado Watch in effect in Polk and surrounding counties, we were unfortunately forced to postpone the event. We will be there at the first available date,’ Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital in a Sunday afternoon email.

‘Trump is dominating in poll after poll – both nationally and statewide,’ he continued. ‘There is nobody else who can generate the type of enthusiasm and support like he can. There were thousands of supporters who had RSVP’d for the rally, which would have eclipsed the tiny crowds others are so proud of.’

Trump’s campaign Twitter account tweeted out a video following the cancellation of the Des Moines rally showing campaign staff going to the house of an elderly couple who support Trump. The campaign staff had hats and other gear for the couple and put Trump on the phone with them, where he thanked them for their support and said he looks forward to seeing them and that he wants them to ‘stay healthy.’

‘I wanted to see you today, but a little thing called tornadoes, they prevailed,’ Trump said.

However, hours later DeSantis was standing on a table bench to address an enthusiastic gathering of about 150 people, boasting about his record in Florida and the work being done in Iowa, saying the results could be repeated across the country. DeSantis then posed for photographs with supporters.

‘If you’re willing to deliver results, the people are there,’ DeSantis said. ‘They’ll follow because they just want to see a better future. We’ve done that in Florida. They have done that in Iowa. We are going to have a chance pretty soon to make sure that that’s done in every state in this country.’ 

The impromptu appearance capped a busy day in the Hawkeye State, where the first votes of the 2024 Republican primary will be cast.

While DeSantis has yet to officially launch a bid for president, polls show he is the main challenger to Trump’s path to the nomination should he decide to run.

The Florida governor has already earned the endorsements of some high-profile Iowa Republicans, including state Senate President Amy Sinclair and state House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl. He unveiled over 30 other endorsements ahead of his Iowa visit. The Trump campaign has also released a list of several endorsements in Iowa in recent months. 

Planned Parenthood called for court packing and term limits for Supreme Court justices in its latest judicial reform package on Sunday.

Planned Parenthood’s proposals come nearly a year after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in June 2022, allowing states to ban abortion. In addition to court packing and term limits, the group is also calling on Congress to establish a code of ethics for SCOTUS, expand the size of lower courts and end single-judge divisions.

While the group’s proposal calls for an expanded Supreme Court bench, or court packing, it does not specify how many justices should be added.

‘Planned Parenthood refuses to accept that our courts can only exist as they do now, and understands that reforms are integral to building the public’s trust that the courts can and will function to uphold hard-won freedoms and advance justice for future generations,’ the group’s president, Alexis McGill Johnson, said in a statement. ‘PPFA’s expanded position is a continuation of our commitment to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live, has the freedom to make their own decisions about their own bodies, lives, and futures.’

‘As we continue to face unrelenting attacks on our basic freedoms, our courts must be one backstop to protecting our rights. Instead, the courts have been used as a vehicle to advance a dangerous agenda against abortion rights, voting rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and so much more,’ she wrote.

Democrats and pro-choice groups have widely espoused the idea of court packing in the months since the fall of Roe v. Wade.

PPFA’s opposition to single-judge divisions comes in the same vein. The group argues that allowing just one or two judges to preside over a division within a federal district allows for ‘judge shopping’ by interest groups.

The group also argues that the federal judiciary is ‘overburdened’ and ought to be expanded in keeping with the growing U.S. population.

‘It’s been more than 30 years since Congress last comprehensively expanded the number of lower court seats – the longest period of time between expansions in the history of district courts and courts of appeals,’ PPFA wrote in a statement.

President Biden on Sunday was asked to assess the state of the U.S.-Mexico border after the expiration of pandemic era policy Title 42 last week. 

‘Much better than you all expected,’ Biden said when asked by reporters during a bike ride near his vacation home in Rehoboth, Delaware. 

The president said he had no immediate plans to visit the border for doing so, he argued, would ‘just be disruptive.’ 

Biden’s comments come after U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said border patrol agents have seen a 50% drop in the number of migrants crossing the border since Thursday. 

‘The numbers we have experienced in the past two days are markedly down over what they were prior to the end of Title 42,’ Mayorkas said on CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ program. He said there were 6,300 border encounters on Friday and 4,200 on Saturday, but cautioned it was still early in the new regime.

Mayorkas credited the criminal penalties for migrants who illegally enter the country, which resumed under existing law after Title 42’s expiration, for the decrease in crossings. The COVID-era rule adopted under former President Donald Trump allowed officials to expel migrants quickly without an asylum process but did not impose penalties.

Biden told reporters Sunday he hoped border crossing would continue to go down but cautioned more work was needed to be done and help was needed from Congress. 

The Biden administration’s post-Title 42 plan requires migrants to schedule an immigration appointment through an app or seek protection from countries they passed through on their way to the U.S. border. If they do not follow the process and are caught entering the U.S. illegally, they are not allowed to try again, even through legal means, for five years. There are prison terms for other violations.

Officials from communities along the border agreed they had not seen the large numbers of migrants that many had feared would further strain U.S. border facilities and towns. 

‘The amount of migrants we were expecting initially – the big flow – is not here yet,’ Victor Trevino, mayor of Laredo, Texas, told CBS News’ ‘Face the Nation.’ 

Despite the Biden administration’s assurances, multiple communities have been straining their resources to deal with an influx of migrants in recent weeks. 

Last week, outgoing Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot issued an emergency declaration in response to illegal migrants being sent to her city by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. 

An influx of migrants has also sparked chaos in New York City, from where Mayor Eric Adams has fought with upstate counties to send busloads of asylum seekers for temporary housing, sparking contentious legal battles. 

The Texas Department of Public also said Saturday it was temporarily ending its partnership with the Austin Police Department. 

Austin Police Chief Joseph Chacon told FOX 7 Austin that because Texas DPS is being deployed to border cities, their operations would temporarily cease in Austin. Texas DPS has been working with Austin authorities to investigate violent crimes and drug offenses. 

The need for securing the border was also highlighted by San Diego’s confirmation of an Afghani on the terror watch list who was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border after attempting to cross. 

Fox News’ Andrea Vacchiano and Reuters contributed to this report.

A former aide to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is now a senior official within the New York State Communist Party. 

Records, first reported on by The New York Post, show 33-year-old Justine Medina worked for Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign for much of 2020, earning around $35,000. 

After working for the congresswoman, Medina was named ‘Co-chair of the New York Communist League’ by the People’s World, a publication of the Communist Party. 

The publication now lists Medina as serving on the Executive Committee of the New York State Communist Party who is also active in the Amazon Labor Union at JFK8. 

As an aide to Ocasio-Cortez, Medina said she was responsible for ‘organizing and writing policy language with Anti-War Veterans & the Peace Movement.’ 

Medina’s years-old tweets highlighted by The Post show her unapologetically proclaiming her alignment with communism. 

‘[W]ell, I *am* a Communist, but work for AOC & helped start Queens DSA’s Electoral WG, so I def see utility in working on the Dem ballot line!’ Medina tweeted in October 2020. 

In another tweet, she described communism as being about ‘equality, democracy, peace, the advancement of workers, the oppressed and humanity in general.’ 

She ominously added that the path to communism will be ‘unkind’ to those who ‘block progress.’ 

‘[B]ut communism is good and shouldn’t scare you,’ she said.

Medina later appeared to capitalize on The Post article. 

‘Friends, I have an announcement to make,’ she quoted in a re-post of The Post. 

In response to a reply questioning whether she adhered to the Maoist or Leninist variety of Communism, Medina said she subscribed to ‘Marxist-Leninist-Robesonist’ thought, a reference to Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Paul Robeson.

While modern-day adherents of communism have tried to water it down, the ideology has been the driving force behind many political movements throughout the 20th century, killing upwards of 100 million people. The Soviet Union’s communist dictator Joseph Stalin starved millions of Ukrainians in the 1930s. China’s communist dictator Mao Zedong led the Cultural Revolution and Great Leap Forward, the death toll from which is estimated to have been above 40 million. Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge communist leader, Pol Pot, imposed brutal programs during his brief rule in the 1970s that are estimated to have killed about one-fourth of his own country’s population.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Medina and Ocasio-Cortez’s office for additional comment. 

President Joe Biden was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Howard University on Saturday for his ‘analytical intellect’ and ‘popularity on both sides’ – claims mocked by conservatives on Twitter and contradicted by recent polls.

Dr. Wayne Frederick, the president of Howard University, introduced Biden with high praise at the school’s 155th commencement on Saturday.

‘Admired for your sound analytical intellect and open embrace for all, your popularity on both sides of the aisle of the United States led to your illustrious reputation and outstanding service of 36 years as a Democratic senator from Delaware beginning at a tender age of 29,’ Frederick said of Biden.

Conservatives mocked the description of Biden on Twitter, saying it ‘feels like parody.’

‘Was there any part of Biden’s visit that didn’t sound like trolling?’ Matt Whitlock, a Republican consultant, tweeted. ‘Between the ‘popularity on both sides of the aisle’ and Biden’s phony condemnation of ‘those who seek to divide us’ (while his twitter account accuses R’s of shoving grandma off a cliff) this feels like parody.’

‘There is no way this guy is talking about Joe Biden,’ Nathan Brand, a GOP communications professional, tweeted.

Recent polls contradict the notion that Biden is popular on both sides of the aisle and possesses ‘sound analytical intellect.’ An April poll in Gallup showed Biden’s approval rating at an all-time low of 37%. An ABC News/Washington Post poll released last Sunday found that 63% of American adults do not think Biden, 80, has the ‘mental sharpness’ it takes to serve effectively as president.

Dozens of House Republicans, including Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, who served as former President Barack Obama’s physician, recently demanded that Biden should take a cognitive test or get out of the 2024 race for president.

Biden, in his address to graduating students at the historical Black college, said White supremacy is the ‘most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland,’ causing backlash on social media with many critics saying he was trying to divide Americans and stoke racial tensions.

‘The harsh reality of racism has long torn us apart,’ Biden said at the historically Black university in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. ‘It’s a battle. It’s never really over, but on the best days, enough of us have the guts and the hearts to stand up for the best in us, to choose love over hate.

‘Union over disunion. Progress over retreat. To stand up against the poison of White supremacy like I did in my inaugural address to single it out as the most dangerous terrorist threat to our homeland.’

Border Patrol agents arrested an Afghan national on the FBI’s terror watchlist after he crossed into the U.S. illegally Wednesday in California, multiple sources at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) told Fox News.

The Afghan national crossed the border with a group of migrants near Otay Mesa, California, the sources said. Border Patrol agents took the migrants to a processing station, where a fingerprint scan determined the Afghan was a match on the Terrorist Screening Database. The FBI was then notified, confirmed the results, and began an investigation.

The arrested subject crossed the border a day prior to the end of Title 42 — a COVID-19 emergency policy that allowed border agents to turn away migrants. Thousands of migrants have flooded to the border since the policy expired.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who represents the district where the arrest was made, told Fox News the Biden administration’s border policies attract terrorists.

‘Biden’s open borders aren’t just a gateway to five million illegals, record human and child trafficking and the deadliest drug crisis in our history,’ Issa said. ‘Biden’s reckless policy is also an open invitation to even the most wanted terrorists in the world to come to America. They know they’ll never have to leave. The nation knows what’s going on and this president has only begun to be held accountable for what he has done.’

Issa’s office said they confirmed the arrest of the suspected terrorist with their local CBP.

A busload of migrants from Texas was unloaded at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, where Vice President Kamala Harris’s home is located at Number One Observatory Circle, according to reports.

An ABC local news station in Washington, D.C. tweeted videos of migrants getting off the bus and grabbing their belongings from the storage area underneath.

This is not the first time Texas Governor Greg Abbott has sent a bus full of immigrants from the U.S.-Mexico border to the vice president’s home.

A bus of migrants was dropped off outside of Harris’s home on Christmas in 2022. Migrants were also bused to the Naval Observatory in September and October. 

The governor began sending migrants from border cities to the nation’s capital in April 2022 to pressure the Biden administration to act on immigration enforcement and border security.

Abbott said in a letter to President Biden at the time that his policies ‘leave many people in the bitter, dangerous cold as a polar vortex moves into Texas.’

‘Texas has borne a lopsided burden caused by your open border policies,’ Abbott added.

As Title 42 was getting ready to expire last Thursday, Abbott spoke with Fox News’s Jesse Waters, pledging to continue sending buses full of migrants to liberal northern municipalities, including New York and Chicago.

‘There will be more coming,’ Abbott said of the buses his state particularly dispatches. ‘There will be more going to New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and other places across the country.’

The governor also provided the latest stats from Operation Lone Star, saying Texas was doing what no other state has done before to protect communities as the president ends Title 42.

Those stats suggest there were 373,000 apprehensions, 28,000 criminal arrests, 402 million lethal fentanyl doses seized and over 17,600 migrants bused to sanctuary cities.