Justice Department Directs Prosecutors to Probe Local Efforts to Obstruct Immigration Enforcement22 Jan 20253
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is directing its federal prosecutors to investigate any state or local officials who stand in the way of beefed-up enforcement of immigration laws under the Trump administration, according to a memo to the entire workforce obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The memo, written by acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, also instructs the Justice Department’s civil division to help identify state and local laws and policies that “threaten to impede” the Trump administration’s immigration initiatives and potentially challenge them in court.
Prosecutors shall “take all steps necessary to protect the public and secure the American border by removing illegal aliens from the country and prosecuting illegal aliens for crimes” committed in U.S. jurisdiction, the memo says. It directs prosecutors to investigate for potential criminal charges cases in which state and local officials obstruct or impede federal functions.
“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests,” the memo says. “The U.S. Attorney’s Offices and litigating components of the Department of Justice shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution.”
The three-page memo signals an immediate and sharp turnabout in priorities from President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, with prosecutors told 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 carry out the policy vision of President Donald Trump’s Republican White House when it comes to violent crimes, the threat of transnational gangs and drug trafficking.
“Indeed, it is the responsibility of the Justice Department to defend the Constitution, and accordingly, to lawfully execute the policies that the American people elected President Trump to implement,” Bove wrote in the memo obtained by the AP.
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