Top Trump DOJ Official Lays Groundwork For Immigration Crackdown

A top US Justice Department official installed by Donald Trump warned prosecutors that they must comply with the president's hard-line immigration agenda and laid the groundwork for a clash with state and city officials who don't cooperate with the administration's crackdown. 

Emil Bove, the department's acting deputy attorney general, sent a memo to staff on Tuesday night outlining an aggressive new stance on immigration enforcement, charging and sentencing. Bove, who served in private practice as a criminal defense lawyer for Trump, said the policy changes were necessary to implement executive orders signed by the president. 

A Justice Department representative declined to comment on the policy memo.

Since taking office on Monday, Trump has made immigration and boosting security on the US border with Mexico a primary focus. Within hours of being sworn in, Trump signed executive orders seeking to rescind birthright citizenship and limit immigration. Meanwhile, migrants across the country are bracing for a wave of deportations promised by his administration.

With more than 100,000 employees, the Justice Department plays an integral role in enforcing federal immigration laws and administration policy. It also doles out billions of dollars in grant funding to local authorities related to policing and law enforcement.  

In the memo, a copy of which was reviewed by Bloomberg News, Bove sketched out a framework for using the department's powers to fulfil Trump's immigration agenda, targeting people in the country illegally, drug traffickers and gangs. Bove told agency staff that state and local authorities are required by the US Constitution and other laws to comply with federal immigration enforcement.

‘Threaten Public Safety'

The Justice Department will investigate and may prosecute incidents of “resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing” to comply with lawful immigration-related orders and requests coming from the administration, Bove said. 

The memo added that laws and actions threatening immigration efforts by US agencies, including to prohibit state and local officials from disclosing information to federal immigration officials “threaten public safety and national security” and may be challenged by the department.

Justice Department units including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, US Marshals Service and Bureau of Prisons are all directed to comb through their files for information and biometric data identifying non-citizens in the US illegally, Bove said. The information will be turned over to the Department of Homeland Security to be used for prosecutions, removals and investigations.

Bove's memo also said that as a “core principle,” in most cases US prosecutors should charge and pursue “the most serious, readily proven offenses” — those punishable by death or with high mandatory minimum sentences. The Trump administration has said that authorities will prioritise violent criminals in its immigration crackdown.

In a separate action on Tuesday, the Trump administration moved to eliminate restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as Customs and Border Protection, from conducting operations at schools, places of worship, hospitals, and events such as weddings and funerals.