Immigration Lawsuit Against California Sets Stage For Long Fight
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The immigration showdown has Gov. Jerry Brown and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions exchanging harsh words.
The Attorney General arrived in Sacramento to roll out the lawsuit he's filed against California's immigration laws.
"We are going to fight these irrational, unfair, unconstitutional, policies," Sessions said.
Brown fired right back.
"This Attorney General has no regard for the truth," Brown said.
The back and forth between Brown and Sessions at separate media events included some sharp critiques.
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"Stop actively obstructing federal law enforcement," Sessions said.
"What he said earlier today is not true," Brown said. "It is a lie."
Politics aside, the federal lawsuit filed against California does have substance that a judge will consider carefully, according to University of the Pacific, McGeorge Law School Professor John Myers.
"It's not just purely a political statement, it's a serious lawsuit," Myers said.
And Myers says to be prepared for a judge to rule soon, on a preliminary injunction Sessions is also seeking in an effort to halt California sanctuary state laws, during the trial.
"It could be within six weeks; it could be sooner," Myers said. "The federal government will try and prove that the actions of the state are irreparably harming federal law enforcement."
Myers says that won't be easy.
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"You don't just get an injunction because you say you've been harmed," Myers said. "You have to go into court and prove that you're probably going to win the lawsuit and that's where the rub is."
The three California laws Sessions is targeting includes one that prohibits local law enforcement from alerting immigration agents when detainees are released from custody.
This divide over immigration policy heading to the court, as the politics play out for the cameras.
"For the chief law enforcement officer of the United States to come out to California, and act more like Fox News," Brown said.
"We intend to win this fight," Sessions said.
U.S. District Judge John Mendez was assigned to this case Wednesday. However he rules on the lawsuit, it's expected his decision will be appealed.