Remarks as prepared for delivery
Good afternoon, everyone. It’s great to be with you in the
beautiful state of Arizona, and an honor to speak with so many outstanding law
enforcement leaders. Thank you for everything you do to protect your
communities.
I have had the privilege of being Attorney General for just
over two months now, and our team has been hard at work. At the direction of
President Trump, the Department of Justice is focusing on several key
priorities, including promoting public safety; restoring a lawful system of
immigration; and supporting and protecting the brave men and women of law
enforcement.
Today, I want to talk about our efforts in these three
areas.
Public Safety
All of us who work in law enforcement want to keep people
safe. That is the heart of our jobs; it is what drives us every day.
Our nation has won great victories against crime in the past
four decades — and the good people of law enforcement made those victories
possible. Murder rates are half of what they were in 1980, and we have driven
the violent crime rate down to almost half of what it was at its peak.
But today, we also see signs that this progress is now at
risk.
The latest FBI data tell us that from 2014 to 2015, the
violent crime rate in the U.S. increased by more than 3 percent — the largest
one-year increase since 1991. The murder rate increased 10 percent — the
largest increase since 1968.
If this was just a one-year spike, we might not worry too
much. But the preliminary data for the first half of 2016 showed further
increases.
These numbers should trouble all of us — especially those of
us charged with protecting public safety. Behind all the data are real people
whose safety and lives are at stake.
My fear is that this surge in violent crime is not a “blip,”
but the start of a dangerous new trend — one that puts at risk the hard-won
gains that have made our country a safer place.
While we can hope for the best, hope is not a strategy. We
must act decisively at all levels — federal, state and local — to reverse this
rise in violent crime and ensure public safety.
Leadership from the top is essential — and President Trump
has given us clear direction. In February, he issued three executive orders
directing the federal government to reduce crime and restore public safety.
This is a high priority for him, and for the Department of Justice, so I want
to discuss briefly how we are tackling it.
First, we are making sure the federal government focuses its
resources and efforts on this surge in violent crime.
In late February, we created a Department of Justice Task
Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety. It includes crime reduction experts
from throughout our Department, including the heads of the FBI, ATF, DEA and
the U.S. Marshals Service.
The task force is evaluating everything we are doing at the
federal level — and it will be meeting with and listening to our state, local
and tribal partners and law enforcement organizations like the International
Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). The task force subcommittees are
looking at a range of issues, including developing violent crime reduction
strategies; supporting prevention and re-entry efforts; updating charging and
sentencing policies; reviewing asset forfeiture guidance; reducing illegal
immigration and human trafficking; combatting hate crimes; and evaluating
marijuana enforcement policy. I look forward to acting on their recommendations.
Second: We need to use every lawful tool we have to get the
most violent offenders off our streets. Not many people are capable of murder
and other violent crimes. The more of them we take off the streets so they can
no longer harm others, the safer our neighborhoods will be.
Last month, I directed our federal prosecutors to work
closely with their federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to target
the most violent offenders in their districts. Only through collaborative
efforts can we effectively identify the most dangerous criminals and
incapacitate them. Working together, we will determine which venue — federal or
state — would best be suited to remove these criminals from our communities,
and ensure they are held fully accountable for their crimes.
Immigration
To improve public safety, we must also restore a lawful
system of immigration — one that serves our national interest, upholds the rule
of law and keeps us safe.
Earlier this morning, I toured the border area near Nogales
and met with Customs and Border Protection agents there. These are dedicated
people, doing challenging work under tough conditions. We must give them all
the help they need to secure our borders and stop the flow of illegal
immigrants and drugs into our country. We must help and empower them to
interdict and disrupt violent cartels and transnational gangs like MS-13 at the
border, so they can no longer infiltrate communities around the country with
their death and destruction.
The President has made this a priority — and already we are
seeing the results. From January to February of this year, illegal border
crossings dropped by 40 percent, which was unprecedented. Then, last month, we
saw a 72 percent drop compared to the month before the President was inaugurated.
That’s the lowest monthly figure for at least 17 years.
This is no accident. This is what happens when you have a
President who understands the threat, who is not afraid to publically identify
the threat and stand up to it, and who makes clear to law enforcement that the
leadership of their country finally has their back. When criminals know we will
enforce our laws, they are less likely to attempt to break those laws in the
first place.
The Department of Justice is doing several things to build
on this progress.
This morning, I announced new guidance directing all federal
prosecutors to prioritize criminal immigration enforcement. These prosecutors
are now required to consider for prosecution all of the following offenses:
The transportation
or harboring of aliens. We are going to shut down and jail those who are
profiting off this lawlessness — people who smuggle gang members and convicted
criminals across the border, and who prey on those who don’t know how dangerous
the journey can be.
Further, where an
alien has unlawfully entered the country, which is a misdemeanor, that alien
will now be charged with a felony if they unlawfully enter or attempt to enter
a second time and certain aggravating circumstances are present.
Also, aliens that
illegally re-enter the country after prior removal will be referred for felony
prosecution — and a priority will be given to such offenses, especially where
indicators of gang affiliation, a risk to public safety or criminal history are
present.
Fourth: where
possible, prosecutors are directed to charge criminal aliens with document
fraud and aggravated identity theft — the latter carrying a two-year mandatory
minimum sentence.
Finally, and
perhaps most importantly: I have directed that all 94 U.S. Attorneys Offices
make the prosecution of assault on a federal law enforcement officer a top
priority. If someone dares to assault one of our people in the line of duty,
they will do federal time for it.
To ensure that these priorities are implemented, starting
today, each U.S. Attorney’s Office, whether on the border or interior, will
designate an Assistant U.S. Attorney as the Border Security Coordinator for
their District. It will be this experienced prosecutor’s job to coordinate the
criminal immigration enforcement response for their offices.
For those that continue to seek unlawful entry into this
country, be forewarned: This is a new era. This is the Trump era. The
lawlessness, the abdication of the duty to enforce our immigration laws and the
catch and release practices of old are over.
Today I also announced a series of reforms regarding
immigration judges to address the significant backlogs in our immigration
courts.
Pursuant to the President’s executive order, we will now be
detaining all adults who we apprehend at the border. To support this mission,
we have already surged 25 immigration judges to detention centers along the
border.
In addition, we will put 50 more immigration judges on the
bench this year and 75 next year. We can no longer afford to wait 18 to 24
months to get these new judges on the bench. So today, I have implemented a
new, streamlined hiring plan. It requires just as much vetting as before, but
reduces the timeline, reflecting the dire need to reduce the backlogs in our
immigration courts.
With the President’s Executive Orders on Border Security,
Transnational Criminal Organizations, and Public Safety as our guideposts, we
will execute a strategy that once again secures the border; apprehends and
prosecutes those criminal aliens that threaten our public safety; takes the
fight to gangs like MS-13 and Los Zetas; and makes dismantlement and
destruction of cartels a top priority.
Finally, to restore a lawful immigration system and protect
public safety, we must also address the issue of so-called “sanctuary”
jurisdictions.
The Department of Justice has a great tradition of working
with states and cities to make our communities safer. In few areas is this
cooperation more vital than in the enforcement of our immigration laws.
Of course, this enforcement is a federal responsibility. But
without the help of our state and local partners, criminal aliens — people in
this country illegally who have committed serious crimes like domestic
violence, child abuse and rape — are often released back onto our streets. That
makes us less safe.
We will never forget Kate Steinle, the young woman who was
shot and killed two years ago in San Francisco. The alleged shooter was an
illegal immigrant who had been deported five times and had seven felony
convictions. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged a detainer requesting
that he be kept in custody until they could pick him up for deportation, but
San Francisco did not honor the request. Had the city cooperated with federal
officials, Kate Steinle would likely still be alive.
In addition, we can’t stand here in Arizona without thinking
of Grant Ronnebeck. This young man selflessly took a job at a convenience store
to help support his family, only to be viciously murdered. The alleged murder
was committed by a suspected illegal alien with a criminal record. What is not
suspected, what is not alleged but is a fact, is that Grant is gone — having
been executed while he did an honest night’s work for an honest wage.
We will not allow these deaths to have been in vain. This
lawlessness must end.
The Department of Justice is working with cities and states
that are serious about enforcing the law and making their neighborhoods safer.
I thank and applaud those jurisdictions. Please know that you have the full
support of our Department — and that we are ready to provide more resources to
help you keep your communities safe.
But there are holdouts. Some mayors and city councils, and
even a police chief and a sheriff here and there, are refusing to work with the
federal government, choosing instead to protect the criminal aliens who harm
public safety. Today, I urge them to work with us. For the sake of your
communities, families, and children, work with us, so we can restore a lawful
system of immigration and make our country a safer place.
Protecting and Supporting Law Enforcement
Another priority of President Trump’s, and this Department
of Justice, is to protect and support our brave men and women in law
enforcement.
The federal government alone cannot meet the challenge of
violent crime and drugs. In fact, about 85 percent of all law enforcement
officers in our nation are state, local and tribal. These are the men and women
you lead, the ones on the front lines.
Unfortunately, in recent years, as you know, law enforcement
as a whole has been unfairly maligned and blamed for the crimes and
unacceptable deeds of a few bad actors. Amid this intense criticism, morale has
gone down, while the number of officers killed in the line of duty has gone up.
Certainly, we must continue to address police misconduct,
and the Department of Justice will do its part. But we also can’t lose sight of
two things.
First, the vast majority of men and women in law enforcement
are good people who have chosen to do tremendously hard jobs because they want
to protect us all. You know this, because you lead these good people every day.
Second, it is proactive, up-close policing — when officers
get out of their squad cars and interact with everyone on their beat — that
builds trust, prevents violent crime and saves lives. Again, all of you know
this, because you have seen it work.
Unfortunately, many law enforcement leaders like you are
telling us that in today’s environment, this kind of policing is more
difficult. In some cities like Baltimore, arrests have fallen substantially
even as murder rates have surged.
This is a terrible place to be, because you and I know that
tough and professional law enforcement can reduce crime and save lives.
To turn back rising crime, we must rely heavily on all of
you in state, local, and tribal law enforcement to lead the way — and you must
be confident in our steadfast support.
Let me say a few words here about the issue of consent
decrees. These decrees are not a silver bullet for solving the tough issues
confronting some police departments. They make departments pull scarce
resources and personnel away from crime-fighting in order to satisfy the
demands of highly-paid monitors. I also have grave concerns that some
provisions of these decrees reduce the lawful powers of police departments in
ways that make cities less safe.
Our Department of Justice agrees with the need to rebuild
public confidence in law enforcement through common-sense reforms, such as
de-escalation training. But any reforms must be done in a way that respects
civil rights, promotes public safety and doesn’t get our Department into the
business of running the day-to-day operations of local police departments.
To that end, last week I directed the heads of Justice
Department components and all our United States Attorneys to review immediately
all Department activities, to ensure that they fully and effectively promote
the following principles:
We will help
promote officer safety, officer morale and public support for your uniquely
dangerous work.
We will ensure
that law enforcement protects and respects the civil rights of all.
We will respect
the local control and local accountability that are needed for effective
policing.
We will strengthen
partnerships between federal, state, local and tribal officers.
And we will not
allow the misdeeds of a few bad actors to impugn or undermine the legitimate
work of law enforcement.
Today, I affirm this commitment to you: This Department of
Justice will encourage the proactive policing that your departments must do to
keep our neighborhoods safe. And we will have the back of all honest and
honorable law enforcement officers.
This afternoon I have discussed just a few of the many
challenges we face in our work to keep our country safe. These challenges are too vast for any one
department or agency to confront alone.
So we must take them on together, to ensure justice and safety for all
Americans.
In this great task, I am proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder
with each of you, and with all the good men and women you lead.
Thank you for inviting me here today.
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