Jeff Sessions defends Trump border policy in Reno, says cartels use kids to smuggle drugs

Show Caption Hide Caption Watch: Jeff Sessions talks about Trump border policy in Reno speech Attorney General Jeff Sessions talks Monday, June 25, 2018 about the Trump administration's policies affecting families at the U.S.-Mexico border. This is part of a longer speech that Sessions was giving at the Peppermill Resort in Reno.

Reno found itself briefly at the center of the immigration debate on Monday, as throngs of protesters shut down streets in an attempt to stymie U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ speech during the annual National School Safety Conference at the Peppermill.

[Editor's note: You can view the full speech below.]

Hundreds of progressive demonstrators — fueled by outrage over Sessions’ central role in President Donald Trump’s widely derided family separation policy at the U.S. border — packed sidewalks and temporarily blocked off an intersection along South Virginia Street in a failed effort to thwart Sessions’ arrival at the conference.

Sessions, the nation’s top law enforcement officer, made no mention of the street-shuttering protests during the event hosted by the National Association of School Safety Resource Officers.

More: Progressives want Sessions to skip Reno speech amid outcry over border separations

More: In Reno speech, Sen. Elizabeth Warren says Democrats must 'clean up' after Trump

More: Trump arrives in Nevada to campaign for Heller

Far from being fazed by the weeks-long outcry over Trump’s migrant detention practices, the former U.S. Senator from Alabama launched a vigorous defense of the administration’s divisive efforts.

He also hit back against critics of the “zero tolerance” policy that saw more than 2,000 migrant parents and children separated while crossing into the U.S.

While Sessions maintained that the administration would not retreat from its zero tolerance policy on the prosecution of undocumented adults, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders confirmed on Monday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials would no longer be referring for prosecution undocumented adults traveling with children.

“We’re simply out of resources,” Sanders said.

Back in Reno, Sessions sought to align opponents of such practices with advocates for a “dangerous” open-border policy that he said would bring a flood of crime over the border.

Violent Central American gangs are already sending children across those borders illegally, Sessions said, even as Mexican drug cartels use kids to smuggle drugs into the Southwest.

“This is not fair to the children you serve and it’s not fair to you,” Sessions told hundreds of school police gathered at the conference. “The compassionate thing to do is protect our children from drugs and violence, put criminals in jail and secure our borders.

“Having an immigration system that has integrity and consistency is right and just and moral. The alternative is open borders which is dangerous and not a realistic prospect for America.”

More: Nevada Sen. Cortez Masto went to a detention facility for kids in Texas, got turned away

Last month, Sessions announced that the Justice Department would try to prosecute everyone who crossed the Southwest border illegally, including asylum seekers and children traveling with their parents.

Stirring photos and videos of the separations fueled an outcry that culminated in a policy-reversing executive order signed Wednesday by Trump.

That order did not directly address questions about how to reunite families already separated by federal authorities. Whole families can still be detained and held together in federal immigration detention facilities.

Sessions on Monday reiterated that the administration would do “everything in its power” to avoid separating families. He also renewed Trump’s calls for congressional action on an issue that deadlocked leaders on Capitol Hill seem unlikely to fix anytime soon. Meanwhile, the administration retains wide discretion to determine how and who to detain at the U.S. border.

Watch: Jeff Sessions' full speech in Reno on June 25

Watch Jeff Sessions' full speech in Reno on June 25, 2018 U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions defended the administration’s controversial migrant detention efforts on Monday during a speech in Reno.

The bulk of Sessions half-hour Reno appearance was dedicated to border issues, despite a warm reception for an early, 10-minute stretch focused on the administration’s school safety efforts.

The former U.S. Senator from Alabama opened his address with an emphasis on the multimillion-dollar school safety push launched in the wake of February’s deadly mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla.

Those efforts included passage of the STOP School Violence Act, which authorizes $500 million over 10 years for grants to improve training and coordination between schools and local law enforcement and help identify signs of potential violence before they occur.

Sessions used his Reno appearance to announce another $25 million in grants for reporting and training, as well as another $2 million in funding to help Southern Nevada law enforcement “rebuild” after October’s 58-person slaughter at an outdoor concert venue in Las Vegas — the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

“In this department of justice, we back the blue,” he said in the speech’s only applause winning line. “That’s why when there’s a tragedy, we believe it’s our responsibility to be there for you, to have your back.”

Sessions’ speech rounded out a busy weekend for Nevada politics that included U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s much-anticipated speech to the state Democratic convention in Reno, along with Trump’s high-profile appearance at state Republicans’ annual convention in Las Vegas.

Video from today's protest outside the Peppermill

Raw video: Reno protesters try to block street at Jeff Sessions speech Protesters gathered and sat in the street Monday, June 25, 2018 outside the Peppermill Resort in Reno before a speech by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Live coverage from the RGJ at the Peppermill: