The Democratic governor of “sanctuary state” California has not responded well to the Trump Justice Department taking legal steps to force his state to abide by federal immigration laws. In fact, he’s talking about “war” and a “reign of terror.”
Gov. Jerry Brown’s hyperbolic declarations have largely been directed at U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who filed a lawsuit Tuesday night against the state’s three new “sanctuary” laws that impede federal authorities’ ability to enforce federal immigration laws, including on illegal immigrants with criminal records. Sessions also traveled to the state Wednesday to tell law enforcement leaders there that all the Brown-imposed “sanctuary” lawlessness is coming to a swift end.
“The Department of Justice and the Trump administration are going to fight these unjust, unfair, and unconstitutional policies that have been imposed on you,” Sessions told law enforcement officers at the California Peace Officers Association Wednesday. “We are fighting to make your jobs safer and to help you reduce crime in America. And I believe that we are going to win.”
Brown has responded to Sessions’ actions in increasingly hysterical terms.
“At a time of unprecedented political turmoil, Jeff Sessions has come to California to further divide and polarize America. Jeff, these political stunts may be the norm in Washington, but they don’t work here. SAD!!!” he tweeted Wednesday.
“This is basically going to war against the state of California, the engine of the American economy,” Brown said at a press conference on Wednesday, the Sacramento Bee reports. “It’s not wise, it’s not right and it will not stand.” The lawsuit, claimed Brown, is just a “political stunt.” The Democratic governor went on to describe Sessions’ attempt to stop California from impeding the enforcement of federal law as “initiating a reign of terror.”
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra ironically insisted during the presser that it was the DOJ, not his ICE-thwarting “sanctuary state,” that was not giving proper “respect” to the Constitution. “Here in California, we respect the law and the Constitution,” claimed Becerra. “We expect the federal government to do the same.”
Sessions’ Justice Department responded to Brown’s hysterical declaration of “war.” The Sacramento Bee reports:
In a statement, U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said “the only war that has been declared by the Attorney General and the Trump Administration is on violent crime, transnational criminal organizations, and the drug crisis.”
Brown has since been obsessively tweeting about the issue in posts he apparently believes are an effective means of presenting what he claims is his “wise” and “right” policies. A few examples of Brown’s various tweets, which include threadbare cliches like “build bridges, not walls,” and “act like the good Christians they claim to be,” and emoji-filled “reminders” that some law enforcement personnel are not totally opposed to Brown’s sanctuary laws: