AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is defending a “sanctuary city” ban in front of a Texas sheriff who had stopped honoring all federal immigration detainers after President Donald Trump took office. Sessions on Friday didn’t directly
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is defending a “sanctuary city” ban in front of a Texas sheriff who had stopped honoring all federal immigration detainers after President Donald Trump took office.
Sessions on Friday didn’t directly call out Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez while promoting the Trump administration’s immigration policies in Austin. Hernandez was among the small crowd.
A Hernandez spokeswoman says the sheriff joined a private roundtable talk with Sessions afterward.
Hernandez came under Republican criticism after announcing on the day of Trump’s inauguration that Austin jails would only put a federal hold on immigrants suspected of violent crimes.
That helped drive a new Texas “sanctuary city” ban now being challenged in federal court. The law forced Hernandez to change policies under the threat of removal from office.
