The Trump administration is now criminally investigating sanctuary jurisdictions and will take legal action against any city or state that is in violation of federal laws.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has established a Sanctuary Cities Enforcement Working Group that is tasked with identifying state and local laws or policies that are “inconsistent” with federal immigration initiatives and, when necessary, challenging those laws in court, according to a Tuesday DOJ memo obtained by Bloomberg. The directive marks a dramatic escalation in the fight between the Trump administration and Democrat-led sanctuary cities opposed to immigration enforcement.
“The Supremacy Clause and other authorities require state and local actors to comply with the Executive Branch’s immigration enforcement initiatives,” according to a section of the internal memo.
“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests pursuant to, for example, the President’s extensive Article II authority with respect to foreign affairs and national security, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Alien Enemies Act,” the memo continues.
The memo further stated that the U.S. attorney’s offices and litigating components within the DOJ will investigate “misconduct” by any officials that obstruct federal immigration enforcement and will seek prosecution.
The establishment of the new working group and its new directive follows sharp rhetoric by sanctuary city mayors and the passage of stricter sanctuary policy by lawmakers in Democratic strongholds.
While there is no official definition for a “sanctuary city” law or policy, the label generally describes any rule that restricts local officials from helping or otherwise cooperating with federal immigration authorities. While local and state officials are largely not required to get involved in federal immigration matters, the administration has cautioned that blatant obstruction is against the law.
Following President Donald Trump’s election victory, Los Angeles passed sanctuary legislation; San Diego County supervisors doubled down on existing sanctuary policy within their jurisdiction and Boston council members unanimously voted to reaffirm their city’s sanctuary status, among similar actions taken by left-leaning cities. The Chicago City Council earlier in January smacked down an attempt by moderate members to scale back the scope of its sanctuary policy, which would’ve allowed for cooperation only in dealing with certain criminal migrants.
Border czar Tom Homan, who is tasked with leading the Trump administration’s large-scale deportation efforts, previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he will seek prosecution against anyone unlawfully obstructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) mission.
“There are federal statutes on the books for knowingly concealing and harboring an illegal alien away from ICE officers,” Homan said to the DCNF. “There are statutes on the books about impeding federal law enforcement officers – they’re all felonies.”
“Now these sanctuary cities cannot assist – ok, that’s fine. They can stand aside, that’s fine, but they cannot cross that line,” he continued. “If they cross that line, we’ll be asking the attorney’s office to consider prosecution.”
The DOJ did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
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