AG Jeff Sessions to talk sanctuary cities, crime in Las Vegas visit

Attorney General Jeff Sessions will travel to Las Vegas on Wednesday to speak about sanctuary cities and efforts to combat violent crime.

Sessions will meet with federal, state and local law enforcement representatives at the U.S. Attorney’s Office shortly after 9 a.m.

The visit comes as Clark County and eight other jurisdictions are under scrutiny from the Justice Department, which has demanded the jurisdictions prove that they cooperate with federal agencies to enforce immigration laws or risk losing federal funding.

While county commissioners and Sheriff Joseph Lombardo maintain that Clark County is not a “sanctuary” county, the Justice Department has withheld about $975,000 in anticipated Justice Assistance Grant monies for close to a year, according to county staff.

The county allocated those monies for uses including helping fund the district attorney’s gang crimes prosecution unit, a teen court diversion program and a grief support center for traumatized children and young adults.

“It’s important that they follow through with that, or otherwise these programs are clearly in jeopardy,” County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said Friday.

Despite the money not rolling in, the county is planning how it will spend another $975,000 in grant dollars it expects to receive from the Justice Department this year.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.