U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has responded to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s lawsuit against the Trump Administration.
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The lawsuit was filed Monday, after the Department of Justice (DoJ) announced it would be blocking federal grant money to Chicago for not complying with national immigration laws and holding itself out to be a “sanctuary city” for undocumented persons.
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In response to Emanuel, the DoJ fired back with a statement of their own before filing was complete, reprimanding the mayor:
“No amount of federal taxpayer dollars will help a city that refuses to help its own residents,” the statement reads. “The Mayor complains that the federal government’s focus on enforcing the law would require a ‘reordering of law enforcement practice in Chicago.’ But that’s just what Chicago needs: a recommitment to the rule of law and to policies that rollback the culture of lawlessness that has beset the city.”
Sessions also wrote on the “culture of lawlessness” in the city, citing Chicago murder statistics – higher than New York City and Los Angeles combined.
The full statement can be read here.
If nothing is reconciled and Sessions’ threats come to fruition, the city will lose out on $3.2 million it was expecting to receive to purchase police vehicles.
Chicago joins Seattle, Santa Clara and San Francisco as the fourth municipality to file suit in a federal court to block the Justice Department from penalizing or targeting sanctuary cities.
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Despite the growing odds, this isn’t the first charge on the Administration by Emanuel:
Earlier this year, he defended CPS after the school system was attacked by Trump. Emanuel also announced a commitment to the Paris climate agreements after the President pulled out of the international treaty.