Attorney General William Barr announced lawsuits by the Justice Department (DOJ) on Monday against politicians in the sanctuary state of New Jersey and the sanctuary county of King County, Washington — blasting such policies as “neither lawful nor sensible.”

During a speech to the National Sheriffs’ Association Winter Legislative and Technology Conference, Barr announced that the DOJ was filing lawsuits against the State of New Jersey, New Jersey Democrat Governor Philip Murphy, and New Jersey Democrat Attorney General Gurbir Grewal for the state’s sanctuary policy that bans officials from sharing state records with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.

Barr said:

Let us state the reality upfront and as clearly as possible: When we are talking about sanctuary cities, we are talking about policies that are designed to allow criminal aliens to escape. These policies are not about people who came to our country illegally but have otherwise been peaceful and productive members of society. Their express purpose is to shelter aliens whom local law enforcement has already arrested for other crimes. This is neither lawful nor sensible. [Emphasis added]

Likewise, Barr announced a similar lawsuit against the sanctuary county of King County, Washington, and King County Executive Dow Constantine for implementing a policy wherein ICE agents are banned from using the King County International Airport to deport and transport criminal illegal aliens.

The DOJ lawsuit states that the sanctuary airport policy is unlawful under the U.S. Constitution because it violates the Airline Deregulation Act, among other things, which bans local jurisdictions from interfering with the prices, routes, and services of air carriers. Barr said:

The reality is that sanctuary policies increase the already serious dangers facing police officers by putting criminals back on the streets rather than transferring those criminals to federal immigration authorities for deportation in compliance with federal law. These policies are textbook examples of misguided ideology triumphing over commonsense law enforcement. And it is the public and our police who pay the price.

The DOJ lawsuit comes as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has blocked the sanctuary state of New York from participating in fast-track federal travel programs after Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) signed legislation that bans federal immigration officials from having access to state identification records.

In September 2019, a pair of illegal aliens accused of raping a child between 13 and 15-years-old were released in the sanctuary states of New Jersey and New York despite ICE requesting they be held in local jails until federal agents could take them into custody.

Similarly, in June 2019, a convicted illegal alien rapist was released back into the public by sanctuary King County officials and went on to allegedly find his rape victim, a disabled woman, and attack her again. The convicted illegal alien rapist is now wanted as an ICE fugitive.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.