U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke in Scranton on Friday, but much of his half-hour speech to about 150 local, state and federal law enforcement officials was directed at another city, about 120 miles south.

“It cannot be that someone who illegally crosses the border in El Paso, Texas, and two days later arrives in … Philadelphia is home free,” he said. “Philadelphia is not giving sanctuary to Americans, they’re giving sanctuary to foreign criminals.”

Sessions spoke at Lackawanna College, one of a handful of engagements in which he’s defended controversial federal immigration enforcement policies — including separating children from their parents at the U.S. border — implemented by the Trump administration.

In Scranton, Sessions largely avoided directly mentioning these policies, instead referring generally to “restoring integrity” to the immigration process.

“We need to tell the world, ‘Please don’t come unlawfully. Make your application. Wait your turn,” he told the gathering, alluding to the assertion that family separation will deter unauthorized border crossings.

The meeting was not open to the public, and the attorney general did not take questions.

“This is the elected mayor of a major city in America celebrating lawlessness,” said Sessions. The attorney general connected “sanctuary cities” to higher crime and the opioid epidemic, claims that have been refuted by some police forces themselves.

Sessions said U.S. citizens should follow that verse when it said to “obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order.”

One idea being floated: block grants that would allow districts to make decisions on what safety measures are needed locally, said House GOP spokesman Steve Miskin.

"It is something everybody seems unified around - that we need to do something," Miskin said. "The question is, 'What?' "

Tariffs the Trump administration plans to impose on Chinese goods will rebound on U.S. chipmakers, says the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). The group noted that most semiconductors imported into the U.S. aren’t made by Chinese firms, but were manufactured in the U.S., and exported for assembly, testing, and packaging into products due to China’s advantageous labor costs. This will lead to U.S. chipmakers paying tariffs on the re-importation of their chips in value-added finished products.

@SecNielsen
15h

This misreporting by Members, press & advocacy groups must stop. It is irresponsible and unproductive. As I have said many times before, if you are seeking asylum for your family, there is no reason to break the law and illegally cross between ports of entry.

@SecNielsen

We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period.
5:52 PM - Jun 17, 2018

pacino wrote:the Supreme Court is garbage; they will likely give standing to Mark Janus, however

slugsrbad wrote:Gill v. Whitford (WI gerrymandering case) was rejected for standing purposes, sent back for further proceedings to see if plaintiffs can establish sufficient standing.

The court explains that it would normally order the dismissal of the plaintiffs' claims, but this "is not the usual case. It concerns an unsettled kind of claim this Court has not agreed upon, the contours and justiciability of which are unresolved." So the court sends the case back to the district court to give the plaintiffs a chance to show that they themselves have suffered "concrete and particularized injuries."

thephan wrote:

@SecNielsen
15h

This misreporting by Members, press & advocacy groups must stop. It is irresponsible and unproductive. As I have said many times before, if you are seeking asylum for your family, there is no reason to break the law and illegally cross between ports of entry.

@SecNielsen

We do not have a policy of separating families at the border. Period.
5:52 PM - Jun 17, 2018

"The administration has no choice." Whatever.

PS - You have to love that the rather reclusive first lady took to twitter to bash that families are being separated. get the Trump's a house divided sticker: Not going to admit wrong VS compassion.

CalvinBall wrote:Democrats can end this! It's not our fault it is theirs!

lethal wrote:

CalvinBall wrote:Democrats can end this! It's not our fault it is theirs!

I'll never understand why the obvious retort of Republicans control both houses of Congress and all 3 branches of government, so if something doesn't get done, its their fault doesn't resonate (other than because Republicans just don't care about the truth and are looking to pin blame on literally anyone or anything else).