U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will come out to Sacramento to "make a major sanctuary jurisdiction announcement," on Wednesday according to a release from the Department of Justice.
Sessions' announcement is expected to be a part of the 26th Annual Law Enforcement Legislative Day, which is hosted every year by the California Peace Officers' Association. The speech comes after Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf warned residents that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials would be raiding businesses in the area last week. Agents arrested more than 200 people during the four-day sweep.
ICE has said they intend to increase its presence in California.
California has led the fight against the Trump Administration's immigration policies over the last year. Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that made California a 'Sanctuary State' which limits how local law enforcement cooperate with federal immigration authorities. CPOA opposed the bill "for its restraint on the communications with our federal partners."
“Despite how (bill author Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León) has presented the issue, the law enforcement profession, which CPOA represents, cannot and does not engage in immigration enforcement. We do, however, have a sworn duty to protect our communities from the release of potentially dangerous criminals, wherever they may come from,” Beverly Hills Police Department Assistant Chief Marc Coopwood wrote in statement last September. “Any attempt to restrict our ability to do that is not good policy.”
Sessions has blamed sanctuary city policies for increases in gang violence and that the bill was 'unconscionable." Advocates say SB-54 allows immigrants to assist local law enforcement without the fear of being deported.
California's State Attorney Xavier Becerra will speak to the same law enforcement organization on Wednesday as well.
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