by Joel B. Pollak21 Apr 2017
SAN DIEGO
Attorney General Sessions spoke about the boost in morale among law enforcement staff, and praised the progress of the Trump administration. “It’s exceeded what I thought possible so far,” Sessions said.
He warned about the danger of infiltration by gangs like MS-13, “whose motto is ‘
murder, rape, and control,'” he said.
And then the Attorney General launched a broadside against sanctuary cities — and
the would-be “sanctuary state” of California.
“It was nearly two years ago that Kate Steinle was shot and killed, dying in her father’s arms, along Pier 14
in San Francisco,” Attorney General Sessions recalled. “The alleged shooter was an illegal immigrant with
seven prior felony convictions who had been deported from this country five times. Only weeks earlier,
the city had released him from custody, after being apprehended again, even though the federal immigration authorities had filed a detainer requesting that he be held in custody until they could remove him for deportation proceedings. Even worse,
this man admitted he came to San Francisco in part because of its sanctuary policies.
“So today, the Department of Justice sent letters to nine jurisdictions that were identified — by the Obama administration — as having policies that potentially violate federal law and which receive millions in federal grants. These jurisdictions
have until June 30th to send their legal justifications for why they are not in violation of federal law — and
the state of California is one of these jurisdictions. … Sanctuary jurisdictions have put known gang members back on the streets.”
The California State Senate recently passed a “sanctuary state” bill, SB 54, that still awaits passage by the State Assembly before proceeding to Governor Jerry Brown’s desk.
Asked by a local reporter to respond to the argument by sanctuary cities that enforcing immigration law would hurt local policing, Sessions described that as more of an “excuse” than a reason, suggesting that
it was driven by ideology rather than evidence.
He rejected an accusation earlier Friday by California State Senate President pro Tem Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles) that he and the Department of Justice were basing their law enforcement efforts on “
principles of white supremacy.”
“It’s a kind of extremist statement that I totally reject,” Sessions said.
Outside the event, about a dozen demonstrators from the Remembrance Project, which commemorates victims killed by illegal aliens, gathered to support the Trump administration’s efforts.
http://www.breitbart.com/california/2017/04/21/sanctuary-city-sessions-kelly-johnson-warns-san-diego-border/
