The Latest: NV Sen. says new immigration policy outrageous

RENO, Nev. (AP) - The Latest on Nevada progressives urging a national school law enforcement group to withdraw its invitation to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to speak at a conference in Reno next week (all times local):

3:55 p.m.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto says the Trump administration’s executive order intended to address the separation of children from their families at the U.S. border is no better than the existing policy.

The Nevada Democrat who became the first Latina elected to the Senate in 2016 said Friday that under the executive order, the administration “still wants to put children and their families behind bars and treat them like criminals.”

She said it’s an “outrageous” attack on all Nevada families because one out of every five in the state is made up of immigrants.

Cortez Masto made her comments during a news conference at the office of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada in Reno. Volunteers were busy making protest signs in preparation for a rally outside a hotel-casino where U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions plans to speak to a school safety conference on Monday.

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3:40 p.m.

A spokesman for a national school law enforcement group says it won’t bow to pressure from a coalition of progressives in Nevada who want it to withdraw its invitation to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to speak at a school safety conference next week in Reno.

Sessions is scheduled to address the National Association of School Resource Officers at a hotel-casino on Monday.Leaders of more than a dozen labor unions, religious and minority groups sent a letter Thursday asking the association to rescind its invitation.Association spokesman Jay Farlow said in an email to The Associated Press on Friday that Sessions has important information to share with school resource officers as the nation’s top law enforcement officer. He says Sessions’ message is especially important in the wake of recent, tragic shootings at several of the nation’s schools._________11:30 a.m.A coalition of progressives in Nevada upset with Trump administration immigration policy is urging a national school law enforcement group to withdraw its invitation to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to speak at a conference next week in Reno.Sessions is scheduled to address the National Association of School Resource Officers at a hotel-casino on Monday.Leaders of more than a dozen labor unions, religious and minority groups sent a letter Thursday asking the association to rescind its invitation.“Rolling out the welcome mat to Sessions as your keynote speaker at this moment would demonstrate your complicity” with his support for the “zero tolerance” policy of separating migrant parents and children at the U.S.-Mexico border, they wrote.The Justice Department indicated in an email to The Associated Press Sessions has no plans to back out of the Reno appearance on Monday.