On Wednesday’s show, Buck brought on Hans von Spakovsky, a former attorney at the Department of Justice and Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, to respond to comments by Attorney General Jeff Sessions regarding a “change in enforcement priorities” in the realm of illegal immigration.
Not only had Sessions vowed a “new era, the Trump era” in a speech at the Arizona border, but Hans also brought word of a memo written by Sessions and sent to US Attorneys’ offices around the country that said, as Hans described, “I want you to prioritize prosecuting anyone who brings in and harbors criminal illegal aliens.”
“He’s going after the smugglers and anyone in the US who helps them stay here,” said Hans. “The priority should be anyone who smuggles in three or more, but that’s going to cover a whole lot of people.”
Buck asked about Sessions’ comments regarding charging those who return to the country after being deported with a felony.
“We have this problem with people who are deported and come back,” Hans said. “The first time you do that, it’s a misdemeanor, the second time it’s a felony. Sessions said, I want you to bring felony charges against anyone who has come back even once if they have a history of felony violations. Remember, the girl who was killed in San Francisco, her killer had been deported five previous times. He should have been in prison, he should not have been roaming the streets.”
Buck inquired about next steps for enforcing immigration statutes in the workplace. “Do you think they’re going to go in that direction?”
“I think [they] are,” said Hans. “The president has taken a series of steps since January, and going after employers who knowingly hire illegal aliens is going to be the next step that they take. That’s going to lead to a huge number of self-deportation of immigrants who are not able to find jobs and make money. We know that will happen, we saw that happen in Arizona.”
Hans described a law that passed in Arizona that required e-verification of the immigration status of employees, which Hans felt had been effective.
“There was evidence out there of illegal immigrants leaving the state, and if you did that everywhere in the United States, they would head for the border.”
Click on the media above to hear the interview in full.