Trump DOJ Set to Crack Down on State and Local Officials Who Oppose Deportation Efforts: Memo
The administration of President Donald Trump, clearly expecting pushback to immigration enforcement from Democrat-run states and cities, has issued a new memo meant to ensure their compliance.
Emil Bove, acting deputy attorney general at the Justice Department, wrote in a memo to staffers Tuesday that the supremacy clause of the Constitution requires “state and local actors to comply with the Executive Branch’s immigration enforcement initiatives,” according to a copy of the memo obtained by The Washington Post.
“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands,” Bove wrote.
The new orders to Justice Department staffers mean that state and local officials who resist the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement could be charged with crimes and possibly face prison time.
Bove also said that the Justice Department will be taking legal action against “state and local laws, policies, and activities that are inconsistent with Executive Branch immigration initiatives.”
He wrote that such laws and activities “threaten public safety and national security,” specifically referencing refusals to disclose relevant information to federal officials engaged in immigration enforcement.
The memo referenced a “Sanctuary Cities Enforcement Working Group” within the Office of the Associate Attorney General that will be charged with identifying such laws.
This memo marks the next phase of a decade-long war between Trump and the army of local and state Democrats who virtue signal against him on immigration issues.
Vocally opposing Trump on any issue, especially one of national relevance, is a surefire way for Democrats to build their profiles and acquire more political power.
That has led to the establishment of countless sanctuary city policies across the country, under which Democrats refuse to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the name of protecting illegal immigrants.
Chicago Democratic Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker have, for example, banned the Chicago Police Department from working with ICE on deportations.
But as Trump starts his second term, the balance of power seems to have shifted.
He has an overwhelming electoral mandate to shut the border and deport illegal immigrants.
That is especially true for those who have committed heinous crimes.
Democrats learned the hard way this past November that such common-sense policies resonate with voters, including many in their own cities and states, since influxes of foreigners have stretched their tax dollars and public resources.
In other words, what was once a one-way ticket to a national profile for a typical Democrat small-timer may now be a ticket to political irrelevance, or even to a prison cell.
The game has officially changed.
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