Even for an administration that has made anti-immigrant rhetoric routine, the speech that Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave on Tuesday was shocking in both tone and content.
Sessions was ostensibly announcing a set of tough new measures targeting gangs, which he described as “criminal organizations that turn cities and suburbs into warzones, that rape and kill innocent citizens and who profit by smuggling poison and other human beings across our borders.” But in practice, these measures apply to almost everyone without papers. And that’s not by accident. “For those that continue to seek improper and illegal entry into this country, be forewarned: This is a new era,” Sessions said. “This is the Trump era.”
In a memo to prosecutors, the AG also ordered higher punishments for entering the country illegally, re-entering the country after already being deported, using fake documents, and transporting or harboring unauthorized immigrants. Taken together, we are now seeing the specific dimensions of the Trump administration’s war on undocumented immigrants.
[For more of this story, written by Tanvi Misra, go to https://www.citylab.com/crime/...and-homicide/522666/]
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