A draft of the Justice Department’s priorities over the next five years reveals an emphasis on cracking down on leaks, targeting undocumented immigrants and stopping gang violence, according to a copy obtained by HuffPost.
The blueprint sets a new course away from the Obama administration’s goals of civil rights enforcement and reduced prison sentences.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ draft plan outlines four goals for the department — border security and enhanced immigration enforcement, violent crime prevention, counterterrorism and promoting “integrity, good government and the rule of law,” according to the news outlet.
As part of its counterterrorism mission, the draft plan also calls for Justice employees to “aggressively investigate” internal leaks of classified information, the HuffPost reported.
The blueprint also specifically names the MS-13 gang, the brutal street gang that President Donald Trump has vowed to destroy, HuffPost reported.
Justice Department spokesman Ian Prior declined to comment on the draft strategic plan, but said in a statement it “is not final until the attorney general signs it.”
“As he has not yet done so, we cannot comment on unofficial documents that we have not seen or reviewed and are not in final form,” Prior told HuffPost.
He continued, “That said, the attorney general has made clear that his goals are to protect our national security, reduce violent crime, combat the deadly opioid crisis, enforce our immigration laws, and restore the rule of law.”
