DOJ threatens to prosecute local officials for resisting immigration enforcement

WASHINGTON, D.C. — State and local officials who do not cooperate with stepped-up immigration enforcement could face federal prosecution, according to a Justice Department memo issued Tuesday.

The three-page memo, which was sent to the entire DOJ workforce by acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, seeks to realign the department’s positions on immigration with President Trump’s executive actions, and it reverses several of the Biden administration’s key immigration policies.

The memo says prosecutors should return to the principle of charging defendants with “the most serious, readily provable offense,” removing the discretion to charge for a lower-level offense.

Bove also calls on U.S. attorneys to investigate and potentially prosecute local officials who stand in the way of immigration authorities.

“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands or requests,” the memo states, raising the possibility of charges for harboring immigrants without legal status or for failing to share information with immigration authorities.

That sets the stage for possible legal action against local officials in so-called sanctuary cities and states that limit their cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

One of those cities is Chicago, where immigrant communities are bracing for the possibility of large-scale immigration raids.

In an interview with NPR’s Morning Edition on Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson reiterated that the city will stand by its sanctuary policies.

“We are firm in that our police department will not intervene or participate in any way” in immigration enforcement, Johnson said. “Whether you’re undocumented, whether you are seeking asylum or whether you’re seeking a good paying job, we’re going to fight and stand up for working people.”

President Trump and his appointees have often threatened to punish sanctuary jurisdictions. During the first Trump administration, the Justice Department tried to withhold funding from sanctuary cities. But they fought back and were often able to defeat those efforts in court.

Bove is a former federal prosecutor who was part of Trump’s defense team in the New York state criminal trial where he was convicted of falsifying business records, as well as federal cases in Florida and Washington.

This week’s DOJ memo, which lays out “interim policy changes” pending the confirmation of the U.S. attorney general, mentions the existence of a “newly established Sanctuary Cities Enforcement Working Group.”

Its purpose, the memo says, is to identify state and local policies or laws that are “inconsistent” with the Trump administration’s enforcement efforts, and “where appropriate, to take legal action to challenge such laws.”

Justice Correspondent Ryan Lucas contributed to this story.