U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions spoke at a news conference in Fall Brook, Virginia reiterating quite a few talking points of the Trump Administration relating to sanctuary cities. Sessions and his Justice Department are asking Chicago, New York, New Orleans, and Philadelphia to help deport suspected illegal immigrants or face consequences which include a loss of funding for crime-related expenses.

New York and Chicago’s mayors have already pledged to stand with the immigrants in their cities, with Chicago going as far as to sue the Justice Department, claiming that the Justice Department is forcing the city to violate the rights of the citizens of Chicago.

Related: I live in a sanctuary city, and it’s a safe haven for white liberal anti-Blackness

Sessions has framed his objections to the cities continued defiance of the Trump administration’s desires as an argument that some of the alleged “illegal aliens” are in fact abusing the immigration system. This is a claim that is quite similar to how white supremacists take protests about police brutality and turn them into protests of the flag and protests of the national anthem.

“Jurisdictions that adopt so-called ‘sanctuary policies’ also adopt the view that the protection of criminal aliens is more important than the protection of law-abiding citizens and of the rule of law,” said Sessions, words that fit in well with the campaign promises of Trump to be a “law and order” candidate.

According to NBC News, this represents the last chance for these cities to fall in line with the administration’s line of thinking. We can only hope that they continue to resist and to fight for their citizens.