Sessions

any port of entry.”

Last week, the attorney general invoked Bible verse as he defended his increasingly contentious policy.

While Sessions has long been the administration’s most effective player in turning President Donald Trump’s tough immigration rhetoric into policy, his latest action comes at a time when his relationship with the White House remains fraught.

The president has repeatedly disparaged the former Alabama senator for his lack of involvement on a volatile front that casts an even larger shadow over Trump’s presidency: Russia.

Since last summer, Trump has belittled Sessions as weak and disloyal for his decision to recuse himself from managing the probe into Russia interference in the 2016 election.

But the border has once again highlighted an awkward alliance in which Sessions again has been thrust into the harsh political spotlight – this time as a willing partner.

The Trump administration faces not only a near-universal condemnation from Democrats but also pressure from a growing number of Republican lawmakers to pull back from the hardline policy.

Among them: Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah, John McCain of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine. Their arguments were only amplified by statements this week from former first ladies, including Laura Bush, who blasted the Trump border strategy as “immoral.”

An unexpected voice entered the fray when a coalition of United Methodist clergy and lay members offered their own rebuke of the attorney general, a fellow member. The complaint suggests the border strategy is akin to child abuse.

Hatch, the longest-serving Senate Republican and a strong supporter of Sessions, called the policy unacceptable. He was circulating a letter to colleagues Tuesday calling for a suspension of the policy to give Congress time to find a fix.

“The way it’s being handled right now isn’t acceptable. It’s not American,” Hatch said Monday.

The administration’s effort has been made more difficult as Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen appeared to break with Sessions Monday, saying the policy was not meant to be a deterrent to immigrants contemplating illegal crossings.

“I find that offensive,” Nielsen said Monday, responding to a reporter’s question at the White House.

The secretary’s comments came just before Sessions’ appearance on Fox News, where his unstinting defense included a blunt warning to immigrants and their families that directly contradicted Nielsen.

“Hopefully, people will get the message and not cross the border unlawfully,” Sessions said late Monday. “Fundamentally, we are enforcing the law.”