AG Jeff Sessions Will Speak in Philly Friday Morning

Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a file photo. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions will speak about sanctuary cities and violent crime in Philly Friday morning.

Sessions is scheduled to address law enforcement agencies at 11 a.m. at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, near Sixth and Chestnut streets. 

Both his appearance and the topic of his speech are controversial. Philly has emerged as one of the nation’s most high-profile so-called sanctuary cities amidst President Donald Trump‘s war on undocumented immigrants. Sessions has repeatedly threatened to cut federal funding from Philly and other sanctuary cities, which the Department of Justice defines as a jurisdiction that does not communicate with federal immigration agencies like Immigrations and Customs Enforcement and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

A federal judge has since blocked Session’s attempt to cut funding for several reasons. And Lauren Hitt, a spokesperson for the Mayor’ Office, has maintained that Philly is in compliance with immigration guidelines administered by Sessions. (In fact, in his threat, Sessions reiterated rules that were already in place under former President Barack Obama.)

A group called Refuse Facism Philadelphia plans to protest Sessions’s speech Friday. According to a Facebook page for the demonstration, organizers will begin to gather at the location of the event around 9:30 a.m. A little more than 60 people have said said they’re “going” on Facebook. About 400 people said they’re “interested.”

A DOJ staffer’s death prompted Sessions to cancel similar plans in Philly earlier this month.

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