Attorney General Pam Bondi is expected to make an immigration enforcement announcement Wednesday afternoon, her first major announcement as the nation’s top law enforcement official.
In her first hours as attorney general, she issued a sweeping set of directives that targeted sanctuary jurisdictions with an order to end funding to any that “unlawfully interfere with federal law enforcement operations.” She encouraged the department to pursue enforcement actions against sanctuary cities or states that don’t comply with the federal government’s immigration enforcement efforts.
“State and local jurisdictions must comply with applicable immigration-related federal laws,” one memo read. It also said that “state and local actors may not impede, obstruct, or otherwise fail to comply with lawful immigration-related directives.”
In another memo, Bondi targeted cartels and transnational criminal organizations, writing that “additional resources and thoughtful charging decisions” would be necessary to fight illegal drug trafficking and the department would pursue “total elimination” of these groups.
Last week, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the state of Illinois, the city of Chicago and other local jurisdictions alleging their laws stood in the way of the Trump administration’s increased immigration enforcement in the area.
In the first weeks of the Trump administration, Bondi’s acting deputy, Emil Bove, instructed Justice Department prosecutors across the country to focus on enacting Mr. Trump’s immigration policies in their prosecutions and said they should potentially charge state or local officials who might impede their efforts.
