A Good Start

Jeff Sessions may prosecute ‘sanctuary cities’ if confirmed as attorney general

Sen. Jeff Sessions is on record saying so-called “sanctuary cities” that protect illegal immigrants should be prosecuted. He himself may get that chance next year.

Mr. Sessions is president-elect Donald Trump’s pick to be the next attorney general, and if he’s confirmed, he will mark a 180-degree turn from the Obama administration on a host of issues, but nowhere more so than on immigration, where he’s been the Senate’s leading crackdown proponent.

From his first day in office, Mr. Sessions will have the power to strip some federal funding from sanctuary cities, thanks to rulings this year by the Justice Department’s inspector general, who said federal law requires localities to cooperate with immigration agents — and who provided an initial list of a handful of the worst offenders.

“The sanctuary cities thing is huge. I think most jurisdictions are going to fold like a cheap suit,” said Rosemary Jenks, government relations manager at NumbersUSA, which lobbies for stricter immigration laws.

Some sanctuary cities have already said they’ll resist any effort to change their behavior. They are being prodded by immigrant rights advocates who are calling on Senate Democrats to deny Mr. Sessions the chance to be attorney general, saying he represents a massive step backward for the Justice Department.

I've always thought that President Obama's deliberate, and even ostentatious failure to enforce immigration laws constituted an impeachable offense:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

It's one thing to selectively enforce laws for which you have insufficient resources to fully enforce, it's entirely another to junk a whole class of laws that you don't approve of. Still, realistically, I never expected any such action. But now that the shoe is on the other foot, I expect, after a lot of whining, that the "sanctuary cities" will fall in line, particularly if their funding is threatened. Nothing gets a bureaucrats attention like a threatened budget cut.