AUSTIN, Texas — U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Friday morning stopped in Austin to speak with law enforcement officials about carrying out President Trump’s immigration policies.
During a speech, Sessions slammed so-called sanctuary city policies and thanked the Texas Legislature for passing Senate Bill 4, the anti-sanctuary city law which requires local law enforcement officials to fully comply with federal immigration officials.
In the audience Friday was the sheriff at the center of that controversy, Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez. She sat through the speech and then left without comment.
Following Sessions' speech, Hernandez issued the following statement:
"In his press conference today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions made a point that SB4 makes our communities safer. I could not disagree more strongly. SB4 does not make our communities safer and Attorney General Sessions does not know our community. However, at least I was invited to the table, along with my colleagues to discuss the issue. That’s more than I ever received from the state of Texas.
"On a positive note, we were able to address the matter of the mental health crisis in our community and our nation. The mental health community is underrepresented and poorly served, which requires more resources to keep a larger percentage out of our jails.
"Open and honest dialogue is important to me and to this agency. Though I did not agree with most points in today’s presentation, the conversation was a start."
Meanwhile, Sessions reinforced other Trump-era immigration policies and stated that Trump’s border wall will send a message to the rest of the world that illegal immigration isn’t tolerated in the United States. He also stated that he’s positive that the DACA program will be phased out.
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