(This article was first published in USA Today on September 11, 2019.)

In the wake of the mass shooting that targeted Mexicans in El Paso, Texas, national security officials are aggressively pushing new laws to treat white nationalist violence the way we have treated international terrorism since 9/11. Applying the “terrorism” label to white nationalist violence is appropriate: It acknowledges the systemic and political nature of the threat and the need for a concerted response.

Even so, proposals to expand federal law enforcement powers are misguided and dangerous. Moreover, if history is any guide, activists of color and marginalized communities might bear the brunt of that expansion, instead of the white supremacists who prompted it.

(Continue reading the article on USA Today’s page here.)

Shirin Sinnar is professor of law and the John A. Wilson Faculty Scholar at Stanford Law School.