Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown had some very strong words for the Department of Justice and Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the latter’s lawsuit against the state’s sanctuary state law. The law went into effect this year, which the DOJ says interferes with the enforcement of federal immigration laws. He said that this motion was pretty much an act of war against California (via ABC 7 San Francisco):
Governor Jerry Brown is calling U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' lawsuit against California a political stunt.
"This is really unprecedented for the chief law enforcement of the United States to come out to California and act more like Fox News than a law enforcement officer," said Brown during a news conference in Sacramento, Wednesday.
[…]
The suit names Governor Brown and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as defendants.
"This is basically going to war against the state of California," said Brown.
When asked whether he would retaliate against the federal government, the governor denied he would take such an action as, “we’re a state of laws” (via NTK Network):
“You called this an act of war from the federal government,” a reporter began asking Brown.
Brown seemed to be confused by the reporter’s quote.
“An act of war? That’s pretty strong. But I reincorporate that comment,” Brown responded.
The reporter concluded his question by asking whether California would retaliate against the federal government.
“No, we are state of laws,” Brown answered. “We want to observe the law now. The [U.S.] attorney general has basically thrown the gauntlet down and done it in a highly politicized way.”
Recently, the situation reached a high point when Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf made the controversial move of warning residents ahead of scheduled Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in the San Francisco bay area. Attorney General Sessions torched Schaaf for putting members of law enforcement in danger.
“Here’s my message — how dare you. How dare you needlessly endanger the lives of our law enforcement officers to promote a radical, open borders agenda,” he said at California Peace Officers Association's annual Legislative Day on Wednesday.
Schaff responded to those remarks yesterday, denying she put law enforcement in danger:
— Libby Schaaf (@LibbySchaaf) March 7, 2018
“How dare you vilify members of our community by trying to frighten the American public into thinking all undocumented residents are dangerous criminals. ... How dare you distort the reality about declining violent crime in a diverse sanctuary city like Oakland, California, to advance your racist agenda.
[…]
Schaaf denied Sessions’ assertions that she endangered law enforcement officers.
“I did not intend to put the safety of law enforcement officers at risk,” the mayor said. “I was very careful in not sharing any specific information about these ICE raids that might have endangered law enforcement.”
In her warning, Schaaf said she had received confidential tips from “credible sources” about the ICE operation. Schaaf said she had conferred with legal counsel to make sure she wasn’t opening herself up to federal prosecution.
Schaaf said her warning was intended “not to panic our residents but to protect them.”
Yeah, so California reacted as expected. At the same time, the Trump White House gets flak for making irresponsible remarks, and yet when Moon Beam barks about lawsuits being an act of war against the non-existent People’s Democratic Republic of California, there’s silence. That’s par for the course.