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| Governor says Trump administration waging war against California | |
| 2018-03-08 | |
| SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump’s administration of declaring war on the most populous U.S. state after the Justice Department sued to stop policies that protect illegal immigrants against deportation. The Democratic governor made the charge shortly after Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in a speech in the state capital, intensified the Republican administration’s confrontation with California. Sessions accused California of obstructing federal immigration enforcement efforts and vowed to stop the state’s defiance. Sessions addressed a law enforcement group in Sacramento a day after the Justice Department filed suit against California, Brown and the state’s Democratic attorney general over so-called sanctuary policies that shield illegal immigrants. "California absolutely, it appears to me, is using every power it has - powers it doesn’t have - to frustrate federal law enforcement. So you can be sure I’m going to use every power I have to stop them," Sessions, the top U.S law enforcement officer, said in his speech. Brown called the attorney general’s trip to California a political stunt and his description of California’s laws a lie. "Like so many in the Trump administration, this attorney general has no regard for the truth," Brown told reporters, adding that the laws were crafted with input and support from California police chiefs. "This is basically going to war against the state of California." Brown in October signed into law a bill that prevents police from inquiring about immigration status and curtails law enforcement cooperation with immigration officers. Sessions said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carry out federal law and that "California cannot forbid them or obstruct them in doing their jobs." "In recent years, the California legislature has enacted a number of laws designed to intentionally obstruct the work of our sworn immigration enforcement officers, to intentionally use every power the legislature has to undermine the duly-established immigration law of America," Sessions told a California Peace Officers Association conference. The lawsuit, filed late on Tuesday in federal court in Sacramento, takes aim at three state laws passed last year that the Justice Department contends violates the U.S. Constitution and the supremacy of federal law over state law. Trump has made fighting illegal immigration and cracking down on illegal immigrants already in the United States a signature issue, first as a candidate and now as president. Part of that effort involves a Justice Department crackdown on primarily Democratic-governed cities and states that Sessions calls "sanctuaries" that protect illegal immigrants from deportation. ’Law Of The Land’ "Immigration law is the province of the federal government," Sessions said. "There is no nullification. There is no secession. Federal law is the supreme law of the land," Sessions added. Other leading California Democrats also blasted the Trump administration. U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein said the administration is simply looking to score points with Trump’s political supporters. "ICE should not be targeting parents who have lived in this country for decades, arresting them as they take their children to school," Feinstein said in a statement. Sessions singled out Democratic Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, accusing her of actively seeking to help illegal immigrants avoid ICE. Last month, Schaaf issued a statement alerting local residents that ICE was preparing to conduct an operation in the area, saying it was her moral obligation. A few days later, ICE announced the arrest of more than 150 people for immigration violations in the San Francisco-Oakland area, saying about half had additional criminal convictions. The White House has called Schaaf’s actions "outrageous" and said the Justice Department was reviewing the matter. "Here’s my message for Mayor Schaaf: How dare you. How dare you needlessly endanger the lives of law enforcement officers to promote your radical open-borders agenda," Sessions said on Wednesday. Sessions also called Democratic California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom an embarrassment for supporting the mayor’s actions.
[FoxNews] Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Wednesday unloaded on California Democrats who push a “radical, open borders agenda,” as his Justice Department sued the state over its immigration policies -- warning that there “will be no secession.” Sessions spoke at an event for California law enforcement and a day after the Justice Department announced it was filing a lawsuit against the “sanctuary city” state over three pieces of legislation that it said interferes with federal immigration policy. In his remarks, Sessions noted “worrisome” trends as violent crime increased in 2014 and 2015, particularly a surge in homicide and drug availability. He said that a lawful immigration system was part of tackling such trends. Sessions said that while America admits the highest number of legal immigrants in the world, the American people deserve a legal, rational immigration system that protects the nation and preserves the national interest. “It cannot be the policy of a great nation to reward those who unlawfully enter its country with legal status, Social Security, welfare, food stamps, and work permits and so forth. How can this be a sound policy?” he asked. “Meanwhile, those who engage in this process lawfully and patiently and wait their turn are discriminated against, it seems, at every turn.” Turning to California, he described "open borders" policies that refuse to apprehend and deport illegal immigrants as a “radical, irrational idea that cannot be accepted” and rejected the right of states to obstruct federal immigration law. “There is no nullification. There is no secession,” he said. “Federal law is the supreme law of the land. I would invite any doubters to go to Gettysburg, or to the tombstones of John C. Calhoun and Abraham Lincoln." He then tore into Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who tipped off the public to an immigration raid in the San Francisco Bay Area last week -- a move he said led to as many 800 illegal immigrants evading capture and put both residents and law enforcement at risk. In defending the lawsuit, he accused California lawmakers of passing laws that are not only unconstitutional, but also a “plain violation of federal statute and common sense.” “Importantly, these laws are harmful to Californians, and they’re especially harmful to our law enforcement,” he said. | |
| Posted by:746 |
| #17 Gee, Jerry Clown is a slow learner. Hey Mr. I’m a heterosexual I dated Linda Ronstadt, do the right thing and reject Federal funds and let your nirvana go it alone. |
| Posted by: Jack Salami 2018-03-08 21:11 |
| #16 I like Trump— he fights |
| Posted by: Regular joe 2018-03-08 18:27 |
| #15 #14 California is waging war on the US by sending pig scrotums like Pelosi, Boxer, Feinstein to the National house. Rational self-interest; electing them to Congress gets them out of the state. |
| Posted by: Elminesh Spawn of the Mongol Horde9538 2018-03-08 15:35 |
| #14 California is waging war on the US by sending pig scrotums like Pelosi, Boxer, feinsteen to the National house. |
| Posted by: newc 2018-03-08 14:43 |
| #13 One should especially appreciate this line: "there will be no secession." Announced by a Republican to Democrats, again. |
| Posted by: Si vis pacem 2018-03-08 13:53 |
| #12 They are insurrectionists, pure and simple. Go with a military governor, restore order and the rule of law, before it gets out of hand as it has in Europe. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2018-03-08 12:26 |
| #11 These leftest bastids have gone too far. Air-Land a brigade of the 82nd Airborne at Sacramento International and road march them to the capital. A military governor should be able to set things straight within 30 days. After the damage that has done to this state by the refusal of US presidents since George Bush senior to secure the border and enforce immigrations laws some kind of drastic federal intervention is probably the only effective remedy. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2018-03-08 12:22 |
| #10 These leftest bastids have gone too far. Air-Land a brigade of the 82nd Airborne at Sacramento International and road march them to the capital. A military governor should be able to set things straight within 30 days. You might be joking but I really wish they would. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2018-03-08 11:09 |
| #9 Yep. Divide CA. Bring the central American areas into the union and throw out the cities. And keep the water and electricity, fuel and food that we ship them. Let them live on their green power and hopes and dreams. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2018-03-08 10:18 |
| #8 The headline might have read: "Trump Strikes a Blow in California for Mental Health." |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2018-03-08 10:15 |
| #7 Divide California. It really is too big and dominated by special interests as is. Let the SF-LA corridor make policy for themselves and only themselves. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2018-03-08 10:13 |
| #6 Turnaround is a bitch, Jerry? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2018-03-08 10:07 |
| #5 The US is not the third world leftist sh"t hole that socialists want it to be. Sentence these people to 5 years in Caracas. Then strip them of thier citizenship and they must apply to immigrate back in if they can prove they have a necessary skill. |
| Posted by: Omeger Gray6606 2018-03-08 09:47 |
| #4 Nah, just renegotiate the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to return the Coasties back to Mexico, less an I-10 corridor to include San Diego. Only requires 2/3rds of the Senate to approve saving a lot of paperwork. Oh, and a bigger wall. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2018-03-08 07:43 |
| #3 These leftest bastids have gone too far. Air-Land a brigade of the 82nd Airborne at Sacramento International and road march them to the capital. A military governor should be able to set things straight within 30 days. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2018-03-08 02:19 |
| #2 Wake me up when they frog march them to jail. |
| Posted by: Sloluting and Tenille8977 2018-03-08 02:13 |
| #1 I'm glad the AG gave it to them with both barrels today. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2018-03-08 00:24 |