Tale of Two Hearings: Attorney General Nominees Strike Different Tone on Immigration

In confirmation hearings taking place simultaneously on opposite coasts of the country, nominees for the top law enforcement posts in the nation and California laid out strikingly different positions on immigration policy.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, took questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington. The senators spent hours asking their colleague about his thoughts on issues including torture, criminal sentencing and Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States. In a number of exchanges, Sessions made clear his position on immigration policy, specifically his opposition to President Obama's executive orders protecting undocumented immigrants who arrived in the country as children.

"I do believe that if you continually go through a cycle of amnesty that you undermine the respect for the law and encourage more illegal immigration into America," Sessions said. "I believe the American people spoke clearly in this election. I believe they agree with my basic view."

Hours after Sessions sat down to begin his marathon confirmation hearing, the man tasked with potentially defending more than a quarter of the nation's undocumented immigrants from federal action began his questioning from the California Assembly Committee on the Office of Attorney General. In a cramped room with far fewer cameras than the proceedings in D.C., Rep. Xavier Becerra, Gov. Jerry Brown's nominee for California's top cop, laid out his vision for the office during a Trump administration.

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"The headwinds from outside of California could threaten the basic rights of so many families, like the one I grew up in," said Becerra, the son of two immigrants who represents Los Angeles in the House of Representatives. "California must continue to be a forward-leaning state."

Like Sessions, Becerra had the advantage of being skewered on a familiar grill; the Democrat served a single term in the state Assembly before heading to Congress. But while Becerra's "grilling" was friendlier and neatly wrapped up before Gov. Brown's budget presentation, Sessions' nomination hearing dragged into the evening.

The Alabama senator has made his name in the Senate with his staunchly conservative stance on immigration, consistently opposing legislation that offered a path toward legal status for the nation's 11 million undocumented immigrants. The issue also helped forge his alliance with Donald Trump, who he endorsed during the primary campaign.

As attorney general in Trump's administration, Sessions would have oversight of federal immigration courts and the hiring of immigration judges. He could also wield the threat of cutting off federal dollars to the hundreds of cities with sanctuary policies that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

The issue of sanctuary policies came up early in Becerra's hearing. The congressman struck a conciliatory tone, promising to work with the federal government to ensure federal agents can apprehend "heinous criminals."

"Sanctuary is simply saying we're not going to go out and do the bidding of an aggressive immigration enforcement agency that's trying to go after people who are simply trying to go to the grocery store, pick their kids up from school, or coming home from a hard day's work," Becerra said.

Differing Views on DACA

Responding to a question from South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sessions said he wouldn't stand in the way if Trump decided to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), the program President Barack Obama created with an executive order.

"It would certainly be constitutional to end that order," Sessions said. "The Department of Justice would have no objection to a decision to abandon that order because it is very questionable in my opinion constitutionally."

Becerra called the issue of protecting DACA applicants "personal" and vowed to educate undocumented Californians of their rights.

"I hope we take with much seriousness those young students who went ahead and filed for DACA services," he said. "And understand that they want to dream the American Dream."

Acknowledging Limits

Both Becerra and Sessions admitted that their future jobs would come with limits in the ability to fully enact their vision on immigration policy. For Sessions, those limits will be fiscal; the senator acknowledged the reality that mass deportations would run up an unwieldy tab.

"We’re not able financially or any other way to seek out and remove everybody that is in the country illegally," Sessions said. "President Trump has indicated that criminal aliens, like President Obama indicated, certainly are the top group of people (to pursue for deportation)."

Becerra, too, admitted limits in his ability to absolutely protect undocumented California residents. In his case, he confessed that the state was at the mercy of the federal leniency.

"We can’t get in the federal government’s way if it’s a totally federal government activity," he said. "But we have our rights and we will defend them."

Sessions and Becerra share an overwhelmingly likely chance of being confirmed. Becerra will get his vote before the Assembly on Friday morning, and Sessions is expected to receive passage when his nomination goes before the full Senate.

Tara Siler contributed to this report.