Opponents of immigration enforcement around the country were put on notice by Donald Trump's Justice Department, which has made it clear it will brook no interference from local officials in carrying out immigration enforcement actions.
A memo from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove instructs prosecutors to investigate and, if justified, arrest local officials who obstruct immigration enforcement actions. The memo also instructs the department's civil division to work with a newly formed Sanctuary Cities Enforcement Working Group in order to identify laws and policies that "impede" the administration's immigration enforcement efforts.
The memo is a clear-language warning to mayors like Chicago's Brandon Johnson, who has threatened to obstruct immigration enforcement. At a press conference in November, Johnson said, “We will not bend or break. Our values will remain strong and firm. We will face likely hurdles in our work over the next four years, but we will not be stopped and we will not go back.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker was even more direct in his warning.
“To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior,” Pritzker said. “You come for my people. You come through me.”
Better get a good criminal lawyer, JB.
“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,” wrote Bove, who defended Trump in two of the criminal cases filed against him.
Bove is not going to tolerate slow-walking Trump's priorities.
“The Justice Department’s responsibility, proudly shouldered by each of its employees, includes aggressive enforcement of laws enacted by Congress, as well as vigorous defense of the President’s actions on behalf of the United States against legal challenges,” Bove added. “The Department’s personnel must come together in the offices that taxpayers have funded to do this important work.”
The memo said federal prosecutors must “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 suggests there will be a spike in immigration cases under the new administration, instructing U.S. attorney’s offices across the country to inform courts of its policy “and develop processes for handling the increased number of prosecutions that will result.” Any decisions by federal prosecutors to decline to prosecute immigration violations must be disclosed to Justice Department headquarters in so-called “urgent reports,” which are used to update leadership on law enforcement emergencies or significant matters of national interest.
It also directs prosecutors to investigate for potential criminal charges cases in which state and local officials obstruct or impede federal functions. As potential avenues for prosecution, the memo cites a conspiracy offense as well as a law prohibiting the harboring of people in the country illegally.
The grandstanding mayors and other politicians have now been put on notice. That won't stop them from daring prosecutors to arrest them. Nothing would give someone like Johnson more pleasure than being seen as a glorious left-wing martyr. Johnson is in deep political trouble, and getting arrested would distract Chicagoans from the severe funding crisis and crime wave sweeping the city.
Just the threat of prosecution will likely keep most politicians in line. The problem will be in getting around sanctuary city laws and policies that prevent local law enforcement from assisting ICE in arresting illegal alien criminals. For example, in Illinois, local police are forbidden to offer a jail cot to ICE agents who will stay overnight to collect an illegal for deportation.
It's one of many challenges the new administration will face in deporting masses of people.
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