WASHINGTON (AP) – The Ministry of Justice directs its federal prosecutors to investigate any state or local official who obstructs increased immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, according to an all-staff memo obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press.
The memo, written by Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, also asks the Justice Department’s civil division to help identify state and local laws and policies that “threaten to obstruct” the action of the Trump administration. immigration initiatives and possibly challenge them in court.
Prosecutors must “take all necessary steps to protect the public and secure the U.S. border by removing illegal aliens from the country and prosecuting illegal aliens for crimes” committed under U.S. jurisdiction, the memo said. It directs prosecutors to investigate possible criminal charges in which state and local officials obstruct or impede federal functions.
“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, or failing to comply with lawful immigration-related orders and requests,” the memo said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Department of Justice’s litigation units will investigate incidents involving such misconduct for possible prosecution. »
The three-page memo signals an immediate and sharp reversal in the priorities of President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, with prosecutors unequivocally stating they will be on the front lines of an administration-wide effort to crack down on illegal immigration and border crime and that they are supposed to implement the policy vision of President Donald Trump’s Republican White House on violent crime, the threat of transnational gangs and drug trafficking.
“Indeed, it is the responsibility of the Department of Justice to defend the Constitution and, therefore, lawfully execute the policies that the American people elected President Trump to implement,” Bove wrote in the memo obtained by the AP.
“The Justice Department’s responsibility, proudly held by each of its employees, includes aggressively enforcing the laws passed by Congress, as well as vigorously defending the President’s actions on behalf of the United States against legal challenges,” added Bove. “Department staff must come together in taxpayer-funded offices to accomplish this important work.
The memo also says the department will return to the principle of charging defendants with the most serious crime it can prove, a staple position of Republican-led departments aimed at stripping prosecutorial discretion to charge a felony offense. lesser magnitude.
“The most serious charges are those punishable by the death penalty, where applicable, and offenses punishable by the most severe mandatory minimum sentences,” Bove wrote.
It is common for Justice departments to shift their law enforcement priorities under a new presidential administration, in line with the White House’s policy ambitions. The memo reflects the constant tug of war between Democratic and Republican administrations over how best to allocate resources to what officials see as the most pressing threat of the time.
The executive order to charge the most easily provable offense, for example, is consistent with directives from previous Republican attorneys general, including John Ashcroft and Jeff Sessions, while Democratic attorneys general, including Eric Holder and Merrick Garland replaced politics and instead encouraged prosecutorial discretion.
