Speaking in an epic segment on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” with host Sean Hannity, recently-appointed Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba explained that she is going after the New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin over their attempts to block President Trump’s immigration policies.
As background, Habba’s announcement of the investigation, made on the Thursday, April 10 broadcast of “Hannity,” came in the wake of both Gov. Murphy and AG Platkin ordering police officers in their state to refuse to carry out immigration warrants in the federal database and forbidding those officers from cooperating with federal officials on civil immigration actions.
Beginning, the acting US Attorney explained that she had begun the investigation because the blue state duo had instructed the state police to refuse to cooperate with federal authorities. She said, Let me give you a very brief summary of what we do know. We know that the Governor has on his website currently do’s and don’ts for his local state of law enforcement. Those do’s and don’ts instruct them not to cooperate with illegal immigrants who have administrative, administrative warrants that have been issued by the court after due process, saying that they are no longer welcome here. They have gone through the court system, they are to be deported. It is instructing them to go against our federal rules, our executive orders.”
Next, she got to announcing the investigation, saying, “And unfortunately, I will announce on your show tonight, Sean, and I want it to be a warning for everybody that I have instructed my office today to open an investigation into Governor Murphy, to open an investigation into Attorney General Platkin, who was also instructed the state police not to assist any of our federal… agencies under that are under my direction…”
Continuing, Habba explained that President Trump and AG Bondi have made it crystal clear that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated, as cracking down on illegal immigration is of paramount importance to the Trump Administration. She said, “That will no longer stand. [U.S. Attorney General] Pam Bondi has made it clear and so has our president that we are to take all criminals, violent criminals and criminals [sic] out of this country and to completely enforce federal law.”
Building on that, Habba explained that the Gov. Murphy and AG Platkin will be criminally charged for obstructing the federal government. She said, “And anybody who does get in that way in the way of what we are doing, which is not political, it is simply against crime, will be charged in the state of New Jersey for obstruction, for concealment. And I will come after hard.”
Habba then, shortly afterward, told Hannity that the New Jersey officials have put her agents at risk with their orders. Beginning, she commented on recognizing that the authority of state-level law enforcement officials is limited, referring in the process to the Title VIII “Aliens and Nationality” portion of the US Code. Doing so, Habba explained that she is not hostile to the state police officers because of that and said, “And let me tell you, to my state officers in New Jersey – some of whom I met with today – I appreciate and respect what you can and cannot do. They don’t have Title VIII authority. I understand that.”
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She then added, however, that she won’t tolerate their putting her agents in danger, saying, “But what they have been instructed to do by the AG and the governor as is on their website, is to not even make the phone call to I.C.E. when they run the record and see there is a valid warrant and administrative warrant ordering deportation. That is putting the people in my state in jeopardy.” She concluded by reiterating that they will face charges, saying, “And if you did commit a crime, if you ordered obstruction, if you are ordering concealment and harboring, you will be charged.”
Watch her here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video