DOJ tells prosecutors to investigate officials who obstruct immigration enforcement

The Department of Justice under President Donald Trump is looking for compliance on immigration laws.

The Justice Department is directing federal prosecutors to investigate potential criminal charges against state or local officials obstructing immigration law enforcement under the Trump administration’s policies.

The big picture: Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove issued a memo instructing the civil division to work with a newly formed Sanctuary Cities Enforcement Working Group to identify state and local laws and policies that could impede the Trump administration’s immigration efforts and potentially challenge them in court.

  • The memo calls on prosecutors to emphasize enforcement of laws related to illegal immigration, violent crimes, transnational gangs, and drug trafficking based on the policies of the previous administration.

Go deeper: Federal prosecutors are directed to take necessary steps to protect the public and secure the border, including removing illegal aliens from the country and prosecuting them for crimes committed in U.S. jurisdiction.

  • U.S. attorney’s offices are instructed to inform courts of the new policy and develop processes for handling the expected increase in immigration prosecutions.
  • Prosecutors are also tasked with investigating potential criminal charges against state and local officials who obstruct or impede federal functions related to immigration enforcement, with potential prosecution avenues including conspiracy offenses and harboring individuals in the country illegally.
  • The Justice Department is directing the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces to assist in the execution of the immigration-related initiatives of the previous administration.
  • Various department components, such as the FBI and the federal Bureau of Prisons, are instructed to provide identifying information about individuals believed to be in the country illegally to the Department of Homeland Security for the purpose of facilitating removals, enforcement actions, and immigration-related investigations and prosecutions.

State of play: The memo also indicates a return to the principle of charging defendants with the most serious provable offense and rescinds policies implemented by the Biden administration, including those designed to end sentencing disparities for different forms of cocaine.

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