Illegal immigrants with criminal records are considering returning home and marijuana users going into hiding now that President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general.

Sessions, a hardline conservative on both issues, was named Friday to be the nation's top prosecutor and critics moved fast to criticize one of the more well-liked senators on Capitol Hill.

Two marijuana advocacy groups warned that as attorney general, Sessions will push back hard against state legalization laws.

"While the choice certainly isn't good news for marijuana reform, I'm still hopeful the new administration will realize that any crackdown against broadly popular laws in a growing number of states would create huge political problems they don't need and will use lots of political capital they'd be better off spending on issues the new president cares a lot more about," said Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana majority.

"President-elect Trump needs to reassure the more than 300 million Americans living under some sort of medical cannabis law that his attorney general will honor his campaign pledge to respect state medical cannabis programs. As a senator, Sessions has criticized the morality of cannabis users and has stated that cannabis is more harmful than alcohol," said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access.

The Sessions pick also worries illegal immigrants, some of whom have already started to head home.

Under Trump, up to 2 million criminal illegals could face deportation.

"It would be nice if criminal aliens would pack their bags, because it would be a lot cheaper for U.S. taxpayers if they left on their own. Unfortunately, though, experience tells us that the criminal aliens are not the ones who go home on their own – usually those are the unattached, more recent arrivals, and the ones who have young children," said expert Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration Studies.

She said that immigration policy will change tremendously under Sessions. Some examples:

— The federal government will start defending its immigration enforcement authorities and practices much more vigorously in federal court.

— Sanctuary cities will be punished for blocking arrests of illegal criminals.

— Morale will increase in agencies that work border and immigration issues.

"Look for an end to catch and release at the border (and the interior), a big new construction project, more worksite enforcement, more enforcement directed at gangs, more enforcement based on the millions of stolen Social Security numbers, and less apologizing for doing what is necessary to get control of the border and discouraging illegal immigration," she told Secrets.

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com