Justice Department orders investigation into local compliance with Trump immigration crackdown

The Justice Department has ordered federal prosecutors to investigate state or local officials they say are interfering with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, saying they could face criminal charges, in an apparent warning to dozens of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions across America.

The memo, authored by Acting Assistant Attorney General Emil Bove, signals a sharp shift in the priorities of President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, with the Justice Department’s civil division tasked with identifying domestic laws and policies and local authorities that “threaten to obstruct” the Trump administration’s immigration efforts. and possibly challenge them in court.

It also tells prosecutors in no uncertain terms that 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 expected to implement the policy vision of President Donald Trump’s Republican White House when it comes to violent crime, the threat of international 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,” wrote Bove, who, before joining the administration, was part of the legal team. who defended Trump against two criminal cases brought by the Justice Department.

“Sanctuary” has no legal definition, but the term encompasses a range of protections for immigrants, particularly those living in the United States illegally. Most often, the laws place legal limits on how law enforcement in these jurisdictions can cooperate with federal immigration authorities.

Courts have repeatedly upheld most sanctuary laws, and legal experts have said that while prosecution was possible, they doubt the charges would have any traction in court.

“What would you accuse these people of?” asked Robert J. McWhirter, a longtime Arizona-based constitutional scholar and immigration attorney. “Nothing requires local law enforcement to cooperate with federal law enforcement on any matter. Not even a bank robbery.

In Chicago, which has some of the strictest sanctuary protections in the country, city leaders have ignored the possibility of investigations. The nation’s third-largest city has been a sanctuary city for decades, limiting cooperation between police and federal immigration agents.

“If the feds want to investigate, that’s their prerogative,” said Alderman Andre Vasqez, who is Mayor Brandon Johnson’s chosen chair of the City Council’s immigration committee.

Vasquez, the son of two Guatemalan immigrants, pointed to a 2016 campaign rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago that Trump abruptly abandoned as the crowd of noisy protesters grew. This cancellation remains an honor for many young activists in the Democratic stronghold.

“There will always be that kind of relationship between Chicago, President Trump and the Republican Party,” Vasquez said. “I was born and raised in Chicago, in an immigrant family. It will take more to scare me a little.

Across the country, cities and towns have been reminded of the delicate balance of sanctuary laws, which draw a distinction between non-cooperation with federal immigration officials, particularly U.S. immigration and customs, and actively undermining these federal agents.

The New York Police Department, for example, told its employees in a memo that they were not authorized to “contribute in any way to the enforcement of civil immigration laws,” but also said they should not “take any action that would interfere with or impede the enforcement of civil immigration laws.” by federal authorities.

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston said the city, where more than 40,000 migrants have arrived since early 2023, would work with ICE to arrest violent criminals. But he added that the city would go to court if the immigration raids targeted, among other things, schools.

“We are not going to be bullied or blackmailed because of our values,” he told The Associated Press.

Bove’s memo directs prosecutors to investigate possible criminal charges against state and local officials who obstruct or impede federal functions. As potential avenues for prosecution, the memo cites a conspiracy offense as well as a law prohibiting illegal harboring of people in the country.

“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. »

But in Colorado, where state law prohibits local law enforcement from helping federal immigration agents make an arrest without a court order, the attorney general’s office said it did not know of any state or local officials obstructing immigration enforcement.

“The federal government, not local law enforcement, is responsible for enforcing federal immigration laws,” the office of Phil Weiser, a Democrat, said in a statement.

The memo includes a series of guidelines beyond those related to sanctuary jurisdictions. He suggests there will be an increase in immigration cases under the new administration, directing U.S. attorneys’ offices across the country to inform courts of its policy “and develop processes to handle the growing number of prosecutions which will result.” Any decision by federal prosecutors to decline to prosecute immigration violations must be disclosed to Justice Department headquarters in so-called emergency reports, which are used to notify leaders of law enforcement emergencies or important matters of national concern .

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. And it rolls back policies implemented by Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland, including one aimed at ending sentencing disparities that imposed harsher penalties for different forms of cocaine.

“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 Garland, have superseded the policy and encouraged prosecutorial discretion.