Culture

Jeff Sessions Lectured California Officials While Announcing The Justice Department’s Lawsuit On Immigration

A few weeks after President Trump threatened to pull Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) out of California to see how the state would cope with their absence, his administration sued the state over its immigration laws and status as a so-called “sanctuary state.” On Wednesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared in Sacramento, where he announced the lawsuit while expressing outrage in what can only be characterized as a lecture.

Sessions attacked California lawmakers for what he viewed as obstruction against immigration agents doing their jobs. He also took particular aim at Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf while accusing her of attempting to “score political points on the backs of officer safety.” Sessions was hopping mad while echoing ICE Director Thomas Homan’s previous accusations that Schaaf had given the heads up to 800 criminals who managed to avoid arrest. This got ugly:

“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.”

Later in his speech, Sessions trashed Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, calling him an “embarrassment for the great state of California” while accusing him of boasting about willfully obstructing ICE agents. Although the speech continued for some time, here’s the essence of Sessions’ message:

“Immigration law is the province of the federal government … I understand that we have a wide variety of political opinions out there on immigration, but the law is in the books and its purpose is clear. There is no nullification. There is no secession. Federal law is the supreme law of the land.”

Sessions was speaking to an audience full of law enforcement, and he insisted that the Justice Department would win their lawsuit against California, which is only one of the major beefs — along with its legalization of marijuana smoking — that he holds with the state.

UPDATE: On Twitter, Newsom has responded to being called “an embarrassment” by the attorney general, who he describes as “[a] man whose legacy is targeting immigrants, re-waging the failed War on Drugs, sucking-up to private prison profiteers, and apologizing for white supremacists.” In response, he’s taking the insult as “a HUGE compliment.”

Watch more of Sessions’ remarks below.

(Via New York Times & Fox News)