The United States Department of Justice has threatened local and state authorities with taking them to court if they do not cooperate with President Donald Trump’s promised immigration policies, which include the deportation of millions of migrants in an irregular situation.
Citing a constitutional division of powers clause, Acting Attorney General Emil Bove said in a memo that “federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with legal orders related to immigration.” .
“The Department of Justice will investigate incidents involving any misconduct for possible prosecution,” Bove added in the memo issued Tuesday night and published by US media on Wednesday.
Trump announced sweeping restrictions on immigration and asylum in the United States hours after taking office, including proclaiming a national emergency on the border with Mexico and ending birthright citizenship.
The Republican president promised during his campaign to the White House to carry out the largest deportation of migrants in the history of the United States.
According to Bove, a working group has recently been created on so-called sanctuary cities, which protect migrants from being expelled.
He said they would identify “state and local laws, policies and activities that are inconsistent with the executive branch’s immigration initiatives” for when “it is appropriate to take legal action” against those regulations.
Several Democrat-controlled “sanctuary cities” in the United States restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
“Laws and actions that threaten to hinder the executive branch’s immigration initiatives, including prohibitions on the disclosure of information to federal authorities involved in immigration enforcement activities, threaten public safety and national security,” Bove estimated.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other agencies should “review their files for identifying information and/or biometric data relating to non-citizens who are illegally in the United States” and turn them over to the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate deportations. said Bove, who was one of Trump’s personal lawyers before being appointed to the Justice Department.
