Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove delivered a memo to staff Tuesday night stating that the Trump administration is ordering the Justice Department to significantly increase its immigration enforcement efforts and make it a top priority.
The memo gives Justice Department staff a number of instructions to make finding illegal immigrants and enforcing immigration offenses their top priorities.
Additionally, it directs the Civil Division to look into potential legal action against states or cities that have laws that prevent officials from assisting immigration enforcement officers, and it gives officials instructions to look into any state or local officials who oppose the enforcement of federal immigration laws for possible prosecution.
The directions align with Donald Trump’s campaign pledges and, to a certain degree, with the customary shift in policy priorities when a different political party assumes power. The Trump administration gained the authority to stop providing cash to sanctuary cities in 2020 following years of litigation, although they were out of office for a short time.
Prosecution of state or municipal authorities who are thought to have obstructed federal immigration enforcement has never been done before.
One of the most prominent orders directs the FBI’s nationwide Joint Terrorism Task Forces to work with the Department of Homeland Security to support President Trump’s immigration-related objectives. That is a significant change from previous policy. Terrorist threats, which officials believe are higher than they have been in recent years, are typically the focus of those task forces.
According to the memo, the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals, and Bureau of Prisons are required to search their files for biometric information and/or identifying information about non-citizens who have been found in the country unlawfully.
The memo states that the Department of Justice will take all necessary actions to secure the American border and protect the public by prosecuting illegal aliens for crimes committed inside U.S. jurisdiction and expelling them from the nation.
It directs the DOJ to investigate all potential immigration violations and work with federal courts to manage the resulting surge in prosecutions.
Sanctuary city authorities in places like Chicago, Denver, and Minneapolis have stated that they want to protect undocumented immigrants in their communities.
Democratic Denver Mayor Mike Johnston declared he will uphold the city’s sanctuary city legislation in the days leading up to Trump’s inauguration.
Jordan Fuja, a spokesperson for Johnston, told NBC News that the mayor is weighing several ways to improve protections for all of our citizens and that he will not assist Donald Trump if he attempts to violate the law and misuse his position of authority.