--- title: Jeff Sessions Attacks Chicago Immigration Policies in Speech description: The Attorney General spoke about Chicago's sanctuary policies in a speech from Miami, Fla. canonical: https://time.com/4903723/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-blasts-chicago-in-sanctuary-cities-speech/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-16T21:21:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:01:25.009Z article:section: Politics og:title: Jeff Sessions Blasts Chicago in Sanctuary Cities Speech og:description: "This is lawlessness." og:url: https://time.com/4903723/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-blasts-chicago-in-sanctuary-cities-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f9fd0b219fd5e5d/6988da0697cdffa6c56b20f3/gettyimages-832807518.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Attorney General Jeff Sessions And ICE Director Homan Speak On Sanctuary Policies In Miami og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Jeff Sessions Blasts Chicago in Sanctuary Cities Speech twitter:description: "This is lawlessness." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f9fd0b219fd5e5d/6988da0697cdffa6c56b20f3/gettyimages-832807518.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Attorney General Jeff Sessions Blasts Chicago in Sanctuary Cities Speech > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Aug 16, 2017 9:21 PM UTC  U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks at PortMiami on what he said is a growing trend of violent crime in sanctuary cities on August 16, 2017 in Miami, Florida. The speech highlighted jurisdictions like Miami-Dade that Mr. Sessions told the audience have increased their cooperation and information sharing with federal immigration authorities and have demonstrated a fundamental commitment to the rule of law and lowering violent crime. Joe Raedle—Getty Images U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions speaks at PortMiami on what he said is a growing trend of violent crime in sanctuary cities on August 16, 2017 in Miami, Florida. The speech highlighted jurisdictions like Miami-Dade that Mr. Sessions told the audience have increased their cooperation and information sharing with federal immigration authorities and have demonstrated a fundamental commitment to the rule of law and lowering violent crime. Joe Raedle—Getty Images Joe Raedle—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Aug 16, 2017 9:21 PM UTC Attorney General Jeff Sessions continued his condemnation of Chicago’s sanctuary policies, which limit interactions between the local government and immigration authorities, saying they amount to “lawlessness” and put citizens lives in danger in a Wednesday afternoon speech. “These policies of sanctuary cities do far broader damage to the country than many understand. At its root, it is a rejection of our immigration laws and a declaration of open borders,” Sessions said. “It says if you enter the country last week with a criminal record and get to Chicago, we will not even support deporting you even after you commit a serious crime against one of our citizens. This is lawlessness.” Chicago’s immigration policies are a major a target of the Trump Administration, which has threatened to block some federal funds to the Windy City and other jurisdictions with so-called sanctuary city policies. Last week, [Chicago sued the Department of Justice](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/us/chicago-sues-justice-department-over-sanctuary-crackdown.html) over a rule that says cities can only have access to certain police grant funds if they give immigration authorities access to jails and notify authorities 48 hrs before they release any inmates wanted by immigration. On Monday, the state of California [filed a similar lawsuit](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/us/california-sues-trump-administration-over-sanctuary-city-policy.html) against the Sessions Department of Justice. In response to that lawsuit, Sessions issued a scathing statement about the city’s leadership and blamed their actions for the violence plaguing the city. There have been 437 murders in the city so far this year, according to [DNAInfo](https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/2017-chicago-murders). On Wednesday, Sessions continued that attack over 1,000 miles away in Miami where he praised local leaders for complying with federal immigration law. “This is wonderful news for law enforcement and the citizens of Miami-Dade. It means more money for crime fighting. And it means we are partners in keeping everyone here safe,” Sessions said. “Unfortunately, some cities–like Chicago–refuse to follow your example.” Sessions also appeared to suggest the sanctuary policies contributed to the violence in Chicago, which the city’s police Superintendent Eddie Johnson refuted in a statement released Wednesday afternoon. “I have said it before and I will say it again, undocumented immigrants are not driving violence in Chicago and that’s why I want our officers focused on community policing and not trying to be the immigration police,” Johnson said. Sessions urged concerned citizens to complain directly to the city’s mayor. “If voters in Chicago are concerned about losing federal grant money: call your mayor,” he said. Mayor Rahm Emanuel responded to Sessions attack on Wednesday with a fiery statement of his own. “In a week in which the Trump Administration is being forced to answer questions about neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and the KKK, they could not have picked a worse time to resume their attack on the immigrants who see America as a beacon of hope,” the Mayor’s statement reads. “Chicago will continue to stand up proudly as a welcoming city, and we will not cave to the Trump administration’s pressure because they are wrong morally, wrong factually and wrong legally.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4903723/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-blasts-chicago-in-sanctuary-cities-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4903723/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-blasts-chicago-in-sanctuary-cities-speech/"},"headline":"Attorney General Jeff Sessions Blasts Chicago in Sanctuary Cities Speech","datePublished":"2017-08-16T21:21:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:01:25.009Z","description":"\"This is lawlessness\"","url":"https://time.com/4903723/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-blasts-chicago-in-sanctuary-cities-speech/","keywords":["Immigration","chicago","Jeff Sessions"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f9fd0b219fd5e5d/6988da0697cdffa6c56b20f3/gettyimages-832807518.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0f9fd0b219fd5e5d/6988da0697cdffa6c56b20f3/gettyimages-832807518.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Attorney General Jeff Sessions And ICE Director Homan Speak On Sanctuary Policies In Miami","caption":"Attorney General Jeff Sessions And ICE Director Homan Speak On Sanctuary Policies In Miami","creditText":"Joe Raedle—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4903723/attorney-general-jeff-sessions-blasts-chicago-in-sanctuary-cities-speech/","name":"Attorney General Jeff Sessions Blasts Chicago in Sanctuary Cities Speech"}}]}] ```