U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions told federal prosecutors in Austin today that the Trump Adminisration's new immigration proposals are a 'breath of fresh air' and will lead to new respect for the rule of law, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Sessions says the priorities include closing loopholes in the current immigration system, cracking down on sanctuary cities that flaunt federal law, and building a well on the southern border 'to show the world that the U.S. is serious about enforcing its laws.'
"Its the kind of bold agenda that the American people have been waiting for and have been promised," Session said. "It will work. It will solve many of the problems that we face."
Sessions said one of the things that will make the President's proposals work is that illegal crossings have already diminished, something he credits to word getting about about the Administration's tough new border stance.
"We are at a point where we can fix this system," he said. "The President is determined to build a wall at the border. This will send a message that says 'don't come unlawfully. Apply for legal admission and await your turn.'"
Sessions says the President's plan includes a 'more merit based system of immigration.'"Canada has this kind of system, they are thrilled and pleased with their merit based system, and they would never go back."
Sessions said the U.S. will welcome the 'best and brightest,' and turn away the 'gang members, wife beaters, drunk drivers, and child molesters.'"
We can't accept everybody who wants to come to America," he said. "We will accept those who are prepared to live lawfully and who are prepared to flourish and prosper in America."
He says the Administration will crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants, and outlaw discrimination against American citizens.
Sessions blamed the growth in the arrival of unaccompanied children as illegal immigrants directly on the DACA program, which allowed the children of illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S.
"The President wants to stop the incentives for vulnerable children to come here illegally," he said. "The president also laid out a plan to close loopholes in our asylum system."
Sessions says immigrants who claim to be 'afraid to return to their home country' will no longer be granted asylum in the U.S.
"It is too easy to defraud our system right now, and President Trump's policies will stop that."Sessions said state and local jurisdictions which have 'undertaken to undermine the moral authority of law and undermine the citizens of the jurisdictions' by establishing 'Sanctuary City' policies.
"These policies have serious consequences for the safety of law abiding citizens nationwide," he said, citing crimes committed by DACA recipients and by illegal immigrants who had taken advantage of 'Sanctuary City' policies by local governments.
"The politicians who push for sanctuary policies, say forcing police to release illegal aliens back into the streets make their cities more safer, but that doesn't make sense to me."
PHOTO: US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE