Attorney General Jeff Sessions declared war on California's sanctuary state law and pledged to use "every power" he has to stop the state's politicians from pursuing what he referred to as its "lawless," "radical," and "irrational" "open-border" agenda.
Addressing an audience of police officers and sheriffs in Sacramento, Sessions lambasted state officials for passing the sanctuary law last year, which puts sharp limits on how local law enforcement can communicate with federal immigration authorities.
"California is using every power it has—and some it doesn't—to frustrate federal law enforcement," he said. "So, you can be sure I'm going to use every power I have to stop them."
Sessions, who filed a lawsuit Tuesday night suing the state over the sanctuary law, stressed the Trump administration is not opposed to all immigration and doesn't want to "wall off America" from legal immigration. The U.S. admits 1.1 million immigrants lawful to permanent legal status every year, the highest levels in the world, he said.
In California, there are an estimated 2.3 to 2.6 million illegal immigrants, roughly a quarter of the nation's total, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
Sessions, said during the speech that he is undeterred and called the Trump administration's policies of trying to arrest and deport illegal immigrants with criminal records "common sense" action that most American people support.
No "great nation," he said, can create incentives and "reward" those who unlawfully enter the country and jump ahead of immigrants who follow the rules and patiently wait their turn.
"We are going to fight these irrational, unfair and unconstitutional policies that have been imposed on you and our federal officers," he said. "We are fighting to make your jobs safer and to help you reduce crime in America. We are fighting to have a lawful system of immigration that serves Americans. And we intend to win."
Sessions paraphrased President Donald Trump's controversial statement that American citizens have "dreams too"—a reference to Trump's State of the Union reference to the plight of "dreamers"—illegal immigrants who came to the country as children by no choice of their own. The group avoided deportation via an executive order signed by President Barack Obama, but it faces uncertainty under Trump's more restrictive immigration policies.
Most Americans understand the country has to enforce its immigration laws or lose control of who enters the country and its ability to ferret out criminals and other threats to public safety, he said.
"They, our citizens, want our government to think about them for a change and to consider their interests," he said. "They have dreams too."
"Frankly, this common sense concept was a key factor in President Trump's election," he said. "Elections have consequences."
California Gov. Jerry Brown late Tuesday slammed Sessions for the lawsuit and bringing his polarizing message to California.
"At a time of unprecedented political turmoil, Jeff Sessions has come to California to further divide and polarize America," he said in a statement pinned to his Twitter page. "Jeff, these political stunts may be the norm in Washington, but they don't work here. SAD!!!"
Sen. Kamala Harris, (D., Calif.) was more succinct.
"Trump and Sessions think they can bully California—but it won't work," she tweeted.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra vowed to fight the lawsuit and continue to push forward with the state's legal challenges to Sessions's threats to withhold federal grants from the state over the sanctuary policies.
"If someone tries to stop the sixth-largest economy in the world … we're going to be there to protect our state and protect our people," he told reporters on a conference call Tuesday night, according to Politico.
"We've seen this B-rated movie before, so I'm not totally surprised," he said of Sessions's actions.
Sessions, in his remarks Wednesday, ridiculed threats made by some California resistance activists that the state should secede from the union. He said the state shouldn't fight federal immigration law and invoked the Civil War as a lesson.
"The law is in the books and its purpose is clear," he said. "There is no nullification. There is no secession. 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 United States of America is not 'an idea;' it is a secular nation-state with a Constitution, laws, and borders, all of which are designed to protect our nation's interests. Surely, we should be able to agree on this much," he added.
Sessions also argued that California's sanctuary policies are endangering the lives of federal and local law enforcement offices and singled out Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf's decision to tip off immigrants to a recent raid by Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) officers as particularly egregious.
Quoting the acting director of ICE, Sessions said being a law enforcement officer is already dangerous enough, but "to give criminals a heads up that we're going in the next 24 hours increases that risk."
He said there are 800 wanted criminals at large in the Oakland community that ICE wanted to pursue, an action that is more dangerous now that it was previously.
"So, here's a message to Mayor Schaaf: How dare you. How dare you needlessly endanger the lives of law enforcement just to promote your radical open borders agenda," he said.
The immigration problems in California are bigger than just one mayor, he said, citing a January incident in which Ventura County declined a request from ICE to hold an illegal immigrant arrested for continuous sexual abuse of a child.
"Instead of being removed from the country, he was released back into the community and now our federal law enforcement will need to find him and arrest him wherever he may be," he said.