Sessions' Anti-Immigrant Sentiment
Sessions has voted against every comprehensive immigration reform bill. After Obama issued an executive order shielding "DREAMers" from deportation, 800,000 people came out of the shadows. Sessions was asked whether he would deport those people, as Trump will likely reverse Obama's order. Refusing to pledge that he would not deport them, Sessions said, "We need to enter a dialogue on how to compassionately treat" them.
But, as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) told Sessions, "There is not a spot of evidence in your public career to suggest that as attorney general you would use the authority of that office to resolve the challenges of our broken immigration system in a fair and humane manner."
In June 2016, Sessions called Islam a "toxic ideology." He opposed a resolution to keep a person's religion out of immigration decisions and supports the "extreme vetting" of immigrants.
The incoming Trump administration's anti-Muslim sentiments are one of its critics' key concerns. Obama's biggest applause line in his farewell address came after he said he rejects "discrimination against Muslim Americans."
Sessions' Animus Toward Women and LGBTQ People
Sessions' mantra during the hearing was that he would "enforce the law," even upholding laws that protect reproductive and LGBTQ rights.
But Sessions admitted he once said, "I firmly believe that Roe v. Wade and its descendants represent one of the worst, colossally erroneous Supreme Court decisions of all time."
Sessions opposed the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and hate crimes protections for LGBTQ people and he voted to ban same-sex marriage.
He opposed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, which allows women to file ongoing pay discrimination claims.
He opposed Title X funding legislation that supports contraception, breast cancer screening and other health services for low-income women.
And Sessions repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood and opposed reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013.
Sessions' Likely Priorities
At one point in the hearing, Sessions noted, "It's not the attorney general's job to decide which laws to enforce." However, it actually will be his job to set guidelines for prosecutors to determine which charges to bring and what cases to file. In light of finite resources, the attorney general cannot enforce every law and must therefore set priorities.
Sessions opposes consent decrees that mandate reform of law enforcement agencies accused of a "pattern or practice" of violating civil rights. To its credit, Obama's Justice Department under both attorneys general Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch conducted several high-profile investigations into police misconduct in Ferguson, Baltimore and Cleveland. We cannot expect Sessions' Justice Department to follow suit.
A long-time prosecutor before joining the Senate 20 years ago, Sessions supports draconian mandatory minimum sentences that remove discretion from judges to tailor sentences to the individual and fuel mass incarceration that disproportionately targets people of color.
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