Three weeks ago, state Rep. Angela Rigas woke up to the sound of protesters chanting outside her west Michigan home.

The group of several dozen activists were demanding the Caledonia Republican withdraw her sponsorship of a bill that would criminalize harboring undocumented immigrants.

“It was frightening,” Rigas told Bridge Michigan this week, saying she wanted to go out and speak with the protesters at the time, but “my kids were terrified, and they begged me to stay in the house.”

Now, Rigas is backing a fast-tracked legislative package that supporters hope will protect lawmakers from threats in an increasingly divisive political climate.

A new law signed this week by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will expand the power of the Legislature’s sergeants-at-arms to investigate threats and allege

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