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| Sen. Jeff Sessions at his hearings of the Senate Judiciary Committee. |
THE CONFIRMATION of Jeff Sessions Feb. 9 as U.S. Attorney General despite a long record of racism and acts vs. immigration reform and voting rights. The Senate vote along party lines (surprise, surprise) sparked heated reactions from AAPI who fought against his nomination.
"It is deeply troubling that the Senate confirmed Jeff Sessions despite his extreme anti-immigrant record and reports that he played a role in President Trump’s executive order to ban Muslims and Syrian refugees," stated Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the largest AAPI civil rights organization.
"Sessions has been the standard bearer for a nativist vision of America, sounding the alarm regarding the “unprecedented” percentage of the American population that is foreign-born – without regard for the fact that the current percentage is lower than during the late 1800s, when the foreign-born were overwhelmingly from Western Europe," said the AAAJ press statement.
"Our objections to Senator Sessions’ nomination are particularly heightened given the climate today, in which hate crimes have spiked and bigotry and xenophobia are being mainstreamed," stated the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans.
"Now, more than ever, we need a Department of Justice that will protect the civil rights of all Americans. Instead, we have a nominee who has defended a ban on all Muslims entering the United States, who has closely associated himself with the anti-Muslim David Horowitz Freedom Center and Center for Security Policy, and who routinely uses Breitbart—the self-proclaimed “platform for the alt-right”—as his media platform."
The Senate's vote came after Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) was barred from speaking on the Senate floor against Sessions Tuesday night. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said her speech, in which she was reading a letter by the late civil rights activist Coretta Scott King against Sessions's federal judgeship nomination in the 1980s, was impugning another senator and against Senate rules.
READ Correta Scott King's letter
In response to McConnel's action,, other lawmakers used social media to release Cpretta Scptt King's comments against Sessions' nomination for a judgeship and McConnel's explanation of his against Warren, “She was warned,” McConnell said. “She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted,” has become a rallying cry for women.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, released the following statement on the Senate’s confirmation of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions:
“America needs a forceful advocate for fairness in its next Attorney General — someone who will fight for justice for all people — not a rubber stamp for the President. Unfortunately, Senator Sessions’ record and refusal to recuse himself from voting on other Trump nominees proves he will not be that person," said the Asian/American senator.
“Senator Sessions voted against extending hate crime protections to Americans who are targeted because of their gender, disability or sexual orientation. He argued for religious discrimination against Muslims. He wanted to pass a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage and criticized legal protections for people with disabilities as ‘irritating’ and ‘unnecessary.’
“I am disappointed that Senator Sessions will now be in a position to erode the civil rights countless Americans bled to protect. I worry about what his Department of Justice will mean for our neighbors with disabilities, Americans of all sexual orientations, people of color and others who have historically been denied equal protection under our nation’s laws when public officials entrusted to enforce those protections turned a blind eye.”
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, released the following statement on the Senate’s confirmation of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions:
“America needs a forceful advocate for fairness in its next Attorney General — someone who will fight for justice for all people — not a rubber stamp for the President. Unfortunately, Senator Sessions’ record and refusal to recuse himself from voting on other Trump nominees proves he will not be that person," said the Asian/American senator.
“Senator Sessions voted against extending hate crime protections to Americans who are targeted because of their gender, disability or sexual orientation. He argued for religious discrimination against Muslims. He wanted to pass a constitutional amendment outlawing same-sex marriage and criticized legal protections for people with disabilities as ‘irritating’ and ‘unnecessary.’
“I am disappointed that Senator Sessions will now be in a position to erode the civil rights countless Americans bled to protect. I worry about what his Department of Justice will mean for our neighbors with disabilities, Americans of all sexual orientations, people of color and others who have historically been denied equal protection under our nation’s laws when public officials entrusted to enforce those protections turned a blind eye.”
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