SACRAMENTO — U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivered a pointed speech Wednesday morning condemning California’s sanctuary laws, announcing a lawsuit challenging them and vilifying the Oakland mayor for her controversial warning of immigration raids last month.
Sessions spoke at an annual state law enforcement event just hours after the United States filed suit against California over three of its new immigration laws aimed at thwarting President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.
“Federal agents must be able to do that job that Congress has directed them to do. We’re not asking California or Oakland to effectively enforce immigration laws … although we’d certainly like that,” Sessions said in his speech. “They’re not backing down, not going to be deterred and we’re not going to stop enforcing the law.”
He said politicians, like Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, were trying to “score political points on the backs of officer safety.”
Late last month, the mayor warned residents of an imminent raid by federal immigration agents, drawing harsh criticism from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the White House. ICE director Thomas Homan, who accused the mayor of tipping off criminals, also announced that the Department of Justice would launch a “review” of the mayor’s actions.
ABOVE: Schaaf defends her decision to warn Oakland residents about ICE raids. She says she did nothing illegal. (2/28/18)
Sessions excoriated Schaaf in his speech, repeatedly blasting her immigration raid warning, citing Homan’s comments that more than 800 criminals were able to avoid arrest because of the mayor’s actions.
“So here’s my message for Mayor Schaaf: How dare you. How dare you needlessly endanger the lives of our law enforcement officers to promote a radical open borders agenda,” Sessions said. He also attacked Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom for “bragging about the obstruction of law enforcement.” He called it an “embarrassment for the great state of California.”
In a Breitbart interview Wednesday, Sessions confirmed that his department would review Schaaf’s actions.
“We look forward to reviewing the facts as they present them to our attorneys. But I couldn’t comment beyond that,” he said.
During Sessions’ speech, Schaaf posted a tweet touting Oakland’s violent crime rate, saying it has dropped over the last five years.
Now is good time to remind our community Oakland’s violent crime rate has dropped dramatically in the last five years. Read more facts below. https://t.co/QOIuia5smC
— Libby Schaaf (@LibbySchaaf) March 7, 2018
An hour after Sessions’ speech, Governor Jerry Brown responded to the lawsuits.
“This is a political stunt. It’s more like Fox News and what’s going on in Washington,” he said. “We know the Trump administration is full of liars.”
The law enforcement audience listening to Session’s remarks was quiet throughout the 25-minute speech, offering polite applause at the end, while a few people rose to their feet at the conclusion.
Sessions’ lawsuit hits directly on Senate Bill 54 — the centerpiece of California’s “resistance” on immigration — which aims to prevent state and local police officers from helping to carry out the president’s promised crackdown on undocumented immigrants. Assembly Bill 450 requires an employer to ask for proper court documents before allowing immigration agents access to the workplace or to employee information. And a provision in a budget trailer bill establishes a state review process for immigration detention centers that contract with ICE.
A few dozen protesters gathered on the sidewalk Wednesday outside the downtown hotel where Sessions spoke, chanting and holding signs saying “Crush ICE” and “First They Came For Immigrants.”
Kevin de Leon, author of CA’s sanctuary state law, walking to meet up with protestors pic.twitter.com/UWbjVBcWYC
— Taryn Luna (@TarynLuna) March 7, 2018
The attorney general’s trip to California to announce the federal lawsuit has further roiled tensions between California and Washington over immigration policy.
For over a year, ICE and the Department of Justice have issued warnings to cities that have adopted so-called “sanctuary” policies to protect undocumented immigrants, threatening such repercussions as stepped-up raids and withheld law enforcement grants. California and other states have responded to some of those threats with lawsuits.
J street now closed at I-5 offramp. Traffic being rerouted south toward Capitol Mall. @kcranews @KCRAMelanie @kcraFitz pic.twitter.com/haDe32TqbJ
— Mike TeSelle (@KCRATeSelle) March 7, 2018
Gov. Jerry Brown has staunchly defended Senate Bill 54, which would extend certain protections for immigrants statewide, as being well within California’s rights.
“This bill does not prevent or prohibit Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Department of Homeland Security from doing their own work in any way,” Brown wrote in his signing message last October. “They are free to use their own considerable resources to enforce federal immigration law in California.”
Late Tuesday, after news of the lawsuit broke, Brown issued a statement blasting Sessions’ move as unnecessarily divisive: “At a time of unprecedented political turmoil, Jeff Sessions has come to California to further divide and polarize America. Jeff, these political stunts may be the norm in Washington, but they don’t work here. SAD!!!”
The final “sanctuary state” compromise brokered by Brown before its final passage largely exempts the state prison system from the new law. It allows ICE officers to question immigrants in county jails, although it prohibits them from holding permanent office space there. It permits information-sharing and coordination between federal and state law enforcement officers when the immigrant in question has been convicted of one of some 800 crimes within the past 15 years. It also makes an exception for suspects in serious crimes punishable with prison time for which a judge has found probable cause.
The California Police Chiefs’ Association, one of the groups organizing the event, took a neutral position on SB 54 after the last-minute amendments, while the more conservative sheriffs’ association opposed it.
California Attorney General Xavier Beccera, who has sued the Trump administration repeatedly over immigration, environmental and other matters, said he was not surprised by the lawsuit. “We’ve seen this B-rated movie before,” he said. “The arguments that the administration is making … demonstrate there’s nothing really new there that we aren’t already familiar with, so we’re prepared to deal with this.”
Assemblyman David Chiu, who carried the bill to protect undocumented immigrant workers, said he was “disturbed,” but not surprised, by the lawsuit. Sessions, he said, “would do well to remember that his duty is to uphold the Constitution, and the Immigrant Worker Protection Act simply requires that ICE agents follow the Constitution.”
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