(The Center Square) – Increasing trade policy activity by the United States and other countries has left 8 in 10 Americans with rising concerns on the cost of things they buy, a poll originating out of North Carolina says.

“Much higher” prices are expected by 43% of respondents when asked “How much do you think the new tariffs imposed by the United States will affect the cost of things you buy?” Another 37% said they expect “somewhat higher” prices, according to a segment of the Elon University Poll released Tuesday morning.

Those results are in line with a poll released last week from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About half expect prices to go up a lot and another 30% say somewhat higher. Most poll results released in the last week indicate some kind of question related to inflation, higher prices and trade policy, and answers reflect growing concern.

Elon University said 1,149 adults age 18 and older were interviewed April 10-17 and matched down to the 1,000 sample. Margin of error is +/- 3.58%. The university funds and operates the poll “as the neutral, nonbiased information resource.”

The demographics split was balanced for those expecting trade policy to cause “much higher” consumer prices. That includes income levels of less than $50,000 (44%), $50,000 to $100,000 (40%) and $100,000 or more (44%); Blacks (55%) and white or non-Hispanics (38%); women (49%) and men (37%); age 45 and up (44%) and ages 18-44 (42%); and those with a four-year degree (45%) and those without (42%).

Party allegiance was different for the “much higher” answer. Democrats (75%) were more represented than independents (42%) or Republicans (14%). Of those saying “somewhat higher,” 51% were Republicans, 38% independents and 21% Democrats.

Asked about summer vacation plans due to the economy, 47% anticipate little or no change and 33% plan to spend less and stay closer to home.

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Monday to enhance national security and enforce federal immigration and criminal law in so-called sanctuary jurisdictions and take a range of actions against those obstructing enforcement, including eliminating their federal funding.

Trump’s “Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens” executive order directs the departments of Justice and Homeland Security to publish a list of state and local jurisdictions that obstruct federal immigration enforcement and take action against them.

“Federal supremacy with respect to immigration, national security, and foreign policy is axiomatic,” the order states, citing Article II and Article IV, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution, vesting the federal government with the power to protect national security and “protect each of [the States] against Invasion.”

The invasion argument was first made by 55 Texas counties that declared an invasion citing Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, The Center Square exclusively reported.

“The prior administration allowed unchecked millions of aliens to illegally enter the United States,” the order states, creating a public safety and national security crisis, exacerbated by transnational criminal organizations, terrorists and others intent on harming Americans.

Trump’s latest executive order, as many of his previous ones, is likely to be challenged in court.

Citing an invasion at the southern border, which Trump officially declared on his first day in office, his administration is now responding to some state and local officials who “violate, obstruct, and defy” federal immigration enforcement, the order states.

Local jurisdictions who obstruct federal deportation efforts are engaging in “a lawless insurrection against the supremacy of Federal law and the Federal Government’s obligation to defend the territorial sovereignty of the United States,” it states.

In addition to creating “intolerable national security risks,” the order states sanctuary jurisdictions’ “nullification efforts often violate Federal criminal laws, including those prohibiting obstruction of justice, … unlawfully harboring or hiring illegal aliens …, conspiracy against the United States …, and conspiracy to impede Federal law enforcement.”

The order also notes that “assisting aliens in violating Federal immigration law could also violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act,” an argument made by America First Legal, The Center Square reported. In January, AFL launched a resource to help Americans fight sanctuary policies and sent letters to more than 250 elected officials demanding that they comply with federal law or expect to be sued.

“Concealing, harboring, or shielding aliens could also trigger liability under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statute,” AFL said. “Civil RICO remedies are available to ‘[a]ny person injured in his business or property by reason of a violation’ and shall recover threefold the damages he sustains and the cost of the suit, including a reasonable attorney’s fee.’”

Trump’s order also states that those who assist illegal foreign nationals might be violating federal laws that prohibit discrimination against Americans and might be violating Americans’ civil rights.

In order for the federal government “to restore the enforcement of United States law,” Trump directed the attorney general and Secretary of Homeland Security to publish a list of states and local jurisdictions that obstruct the federal immigration enforcement. Each jurisdiction is to be notified of its alleged violation of federal immigration and criminal law.

Those that remain in defiance will lose all federal funding, the order says. The AG and DHS secretary are directed to work with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to identify, suspend and terminate all federal funds allocated to sanctuary jurisdictions, including grants and contracts. They are also directed to “pursue all necessary legal remedies and enforcement measures to end these violations and bring such jurisdictions into compliance” with U.S. laws.

The order also prevents all federal benefits from being spent on illegal foreign nationals living in sanctuary jurisdictions, including through private entities. It requires federal agencies to create a mechanism “to ensure appropriate eligibility verification is conducted for individuals receiving federal public benefits” under Title 8 of federal immigration law.

It also creates provisions for the AG, DHS secretary and agency heads to “identify and take appropriate action to stop the enforcement of state and local laws, regulations, policies, and practices favoring aliens over any groups of American citizens that are unlawful, preempted by federal law, or otherwise unenforceable.”

This includes state laws that provide in-state higher education tuition “to aliens but not to out-of-State American citizens that may violate” federal law or “that favor aliens in criminal charges or sentencing.”

The order was issued after the Trump administration already warned sanctuary jurisdictions like Massachusetts, whose officials remained steadfast in their policies to protect illegal foreign nationals. They continued to do so after federal authorities arrested alleged terrorists tied to the murder of U.S. troops and hundreds of criminal illegal foreign nationals were charged or convicted of committing violent crimes against Massachusetts residents, The Center Square reported.

(The Center Square) – Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday signed a series of education bills, including the Riley Gaines Act of 2025 designed to protect women’s sports.

Senate Bill 1, bars males and females from competing on teams designated for the opposite gender, the governor’s office said in a statement. It also requires restrooms and changing areas that can be used by more than one student to be limited to one gender.

The legislation is in line with President Donald Trump’s executive order entitled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” More than half the states in America have similar legislation, many named for Gaines.

Other educations bills signed into law include one providing financial grants as incentives to local boards of education to approve charter school petitions and prohibiting school systems from unfairly attempting to shut down charter schools.

“As the parents of three daughters, Marty and I know just how important it is to keep our children safe and to give them the best possible start in life,” Kemp said in a statement. “Girls should not have to share a playing field, a restroom, or a locker room with boys and vice versa, and the commonsense legislation I signed today is about what is fair and safe for our children.

“I want to thank the members of the General Assembly for putting the well-being of our students over politics. Like Marty and me, they want to protect their daughters and sons, they want them to grow up and compete in a fair environment, and they want their children to know that political agendas won’t dictate their lives.”

The Riley Gaines Act is named after the former University of Kentucky All-American swimmer who has championed the cause of keeping males out of female sports. It was in the 2022 NCAA Championships in Atlanta, hosted by Georgia Tech, where a Penn swimmer previously spending three years on the men’s team encountered Gaines and other women swimmers sparking multiple litigations – and the fight to protect women’s spaces. 

“Three years after I, and dozens of other Division I female athletes, were forced to compete against a man in a Georgia pool, the Riley Gaines Act of 2025 is now law,” Gaines said in a statement Monday. “It’s an honor of a lifetime to know our stories help shed light on a grave problem of rampant gender ideology that means women are victims of government facilitated sex discrimination.”

GLAAD, a nonprofit organization focused on queer advocacy and cultural change, is critical of the Georgia legislation.

“All students, regardless of gender identity, should have access to play school sports in a safe environment where they can learn and thrive,” CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement Monday. “With the passage of this discriminatory legislation, Georgia lawmakers have unfairly and baselessly made it more difficult for transgender students to experience the same lessons sports offers all youth, and they have dangerously placed a target on cisgender girls who don’t fit neatly into societal expectations of gender.”

The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Greg Dolezal and carried in the House by Rep. Josh Bonner. It was a legislative priority for both Speaker of the House Jon Burns and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones.

“Today, the General Assembly affirmed our longstanding and ongoing commitment to the safety, success, and well-being of Georgia’s children,” Burns said. “Our children are our future, and their future begins in our education system. That’s why securing our classrooms, strengthening school safety, and increasing access to mental healthcare for our students was a top priority for the House this session, and that’s exactly what HB268 accomplishes. The House also took a stand to restore common sense and fairness for female athletes by championing the Riley Gaines Act. Thanks to the protections set forth by this legislation, female athletes here in Georgia will never be forced to face a biological male on the court, on the field, or in the locker room.”

Also signed by Kemp:

• House Bill 81, sponsored by Rep. Bethany Ballard and carried by Sen. Larry Walker in the Senate, establishes an interstate compact for school psychologists, helping ease the burden on these essential employees in our schools.

• HB307, sponsored by Ballard and carried by Sen. Billy Hickman in the Senate, builds on the work of the Georgia Early Literacy Act by consolidating existing statutory requirements on dyslexia screening so that we can reach students earlier and get them the assistance they need.

• HB235, sponsored by Rep. Rick Townsend and carried in the Senate by Sen. Mike Hodges, entitles public school employees and postsecondary education employees to receive a leave of absence for donation of bone marrow or organs.

• SB82, sponsored by Sen. Clint Dixon and carried by Rep. Scott Hilton in the House, incentivizes local boards of education to approve charter school petitions while preventing school systems from unfairly attempting to shutter these school options.

• SB123, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore John Kennedy in and carried by Rep. Matt Dubnik in the House, requires school systems with chronic absenteeism rates of 10% or more to establish an attendance review team to determine the underlying causes of that issue.

• HB268, sponsored by Rep. Holt Persinger and carried by Sen. Bill Cowsert in the Senate, was also a top priority of Jones, Burns and many others in the General Assembly. This bill requires schools to have up-to-date mapping and mobile panic alert systems, requires student records be transferred within five school business days so potential dangers can be addressed quickly, provides for a student advocacy specialist grant program to reimburse districts for hiring said position, requires local boards to offer an anonymous reporting program, and creates the offenses of “terroristic threat of a school” and “terroristic act upon a school.”

These measures are in addition to the multiple rounds of school safety grants provided for in prior years, annualized funding for school safety grants, and legislation requiring schools conduct safety audits.