Attorney General Jeff Sessions responds to Chicago's lawsuit, cites city's 'horrific' violent crime surge

Brett T. | 6:22 PM on August 07, 2017

As Twitchy reported earlier today, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel appeared on CNN defending his lawsuit against the Trump administration for threatening to withhold federal funds to cities that ignore federal law and serve as sanctuaries to people in the U.S. illegally.

On Monday evening, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued his own statement, in which he cited Chicago’s “unprecedented violent crime surge” and accused the city’s political leadership of adopting “an official policy of protecting criminal aliens who prey on their own residents.”

Statement by Attorney General Sessions on the City of Chicago's Lawsuit Against the U.S. Department of Justice https://t.co/hY2xWe3JQc

— Justice Department (@TheJusticeDept) August 7, 2017

AG Sessions full statement to the city of Chicago: pic.twitter.com/Rs1kwOZqJ4

— Sari Horwitz (@SariHorwitz) August 7, 2017

Sessions’ statement concludes:

The Mayor complains that the federal government’s focus on enforcing the law would require a “reordering of law enforcement practice in Chicago.” But that’s just what Chicago needs: a recommitment to the rule of law and to policies that rollback the culture of lawlessness that has beset the city.

This administration will not simply give away grant dollars to city governments that proudly violate the rule of law and protect criminal aliens at the expense of public safety. So it’s this simple: Comply with the law or forego taxpayer dollars.

So that’s that.

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