SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The morning after the Trump administration sued California over its immigration policies, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared in downtown Sacramento to say states cannot defy the federal government when it comes to immigration.
About 200 protesters gathered in the blocks around the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel next to Golden 1 arena, where Sessions spoke at 8 a.m. to members of the California Peace Officers Association.
Inside the hotel, officers stood in plain clothes to listen to the nation’s top law enforcement official.
Fairfield Police Chief Randy Fenn said he was looking for clear direction from Sessions. “We don’t want to be caught in the middle, frankly.”
In a prepared text of his remarks released shortly before he began speaking, Sessions rebuked California officials for their continued efforts to thwart stepped-up deportations of undocumented immigrants, who make up a significant portion of the workforce here.
“A refusal to apprehend and deport those, especially the criminal element, effectively rejects all immigration law and creates an open borders system,” Sessions declared. “Open borders is a radical, irrational idea that cannot be accepted.
“There is no nullification. There is no secession,” Sessions said. “Federal law is ‘the supreme law of the land.’ I would invite any doubters to Gettysburg, and to the graves of John C. Calhoun and Abraham Lincoln.”
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday evening in the U.S. Eastern District of California, is the latest salvo in the ongoing battle between the Trump administration and state and local jurisdictions over how far cities and states can go to block their officers from enforcing federal immigration law.
The suit targets three California laws — Senate Bill 54, Assembly bill 450 and Assembly bill 103 — that the federal government say violate the supremacy clause of the Constitution and interfere with the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
It names both California Gov. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Xavier Becerra personally as defendants.
A Trump administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters Tuesday that the administration expects the lawsuit to be decided in the U.S. Supreme Court, because it does not expect favorable decisions in the lower courts in California.
Sessions portrayed California as actively obstructing the efforts of ICE agents. He cited a case earlier this month in which Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf warned of pending ICE raids in the city.
Sessions said ICE failed to make about 800 arrests because of the warning.
“Her actions support those who flout our laws and boldly validate the illegality,” he said.
State officials continued to strike a defiant tone in response to the lawsuit. California Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles joined five members of the Sacramento City Council in the protest outside of the hotel where Sessions spoke.
“At a time of unprecedented political turmoil, Jeff Sessions has come to California to further divide and polarize America,” Governor Brown said in an emailed statement Tuesday. “Jeff, these political stunts may be the norm in Washington, but they don’t work here. SAD!!!”
