Trump may berate his attorney general on Twitter, but Jeff Sessions is the man implementing every cruel border policy Trump could have dreamed of when he called Latino immigrants “rapists,” “drug dealers,” and “gang members” in front of screaming, rabid rally attendees.
A win in our fight to protect Californians from attempts to force our law enforcement to change policies & practices https://t.co/mw7qeI1kU3
— Xavier Becerra (@AGBecerra) October 5, 2018
Sessions’ latest attempts to strong-arm Trump’s immigration policies into effect, however, are being shut down once again. According to The Hill, a federal judge blocked Sessions’ unconstitutional attempts to deny federal grants to sanctuary cities on Friday.
‘Orrick’s decision was in agreement with every court that has looked at these issues.
‘The judge said that the challenged conditions violate the separation of power and that the information-sharing law is unconstitutional.
‘Orrick said he is following the lead of the district court in a similar challenge brought by the city of Chicago and is issuing a nationwide injunction to block the Justice Department from enforcing its requirement and the law. But he said he is putting that stay on hold until the Ninth Circuit addresses the issue on appeal.’
The court ruling today validates what we already knew—the Trump administration’s attempt to bully San Francisco into abandoning our values and complying with unfair, unjust immigration enforcement laws is unconstitutional. TY @dennisherrera for your work. https://t.co/qwIGLm0ZTA
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) October 5, 2018
Sessions has defended these attempts by arguing that sanctuary cities threaten the safety of American citizens by allowing city police officers to refuse to turn over detainees who are suspected of being undocumented immigrants to Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). However, there is no evidence that crime rates are higher in sanctuary cities.
As Time reports:
‘Experts say there’s no evidence that sanctuary cities—cities, or in some cases counties, that limit their involvement with federal law enforcement to defend law-abiding immigrant residents against deportation—give way to higher rates of crime.
‘”Every country, and of course the U.S. too, has the right to secure its borders and define its immigration policy, including dealing with illegal immigration,” Dany Bahar, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, told Newsweek Wednesday. “But let’s be honest on the motivations to do so. When it comes to crime, the evidence does not fully support the statement made by the president.”‘
For months, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been interfering with #JudicialIndependence and undermining #DueProcess in #immigration courts. @MotherJones explains: https://t.co/WqgcpD0uyF
— New Sanctuary Coalition (@NewSanctuaryNYC) October 2, 2018
In a Friday afternoon statement following the ruling, California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra praised the ruling:
‘Today’s ruling is a victory in our fight to protect the people of California…We will continue to stand up to the Trump administration’s attempts to force our law enforcement into changing its policies and practices in ways that that would make us less safe.’
Your opinions are not supported by facts. Actual, provable research shows that undocumented immigrants are not only less dangerous, but add measurable tax revenue. But you don't care, you like Trump at all costs. Here's proof with cited sources: https://t.co/RfwDVAmgmR
— Bub (@howdytherebub) October 2, 2018
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license