U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has put sanctuary jurisdictions nationwide on notice that they had better comply with federal immigration statutes or face the consequences.
Thirty-two cities, states, and counties have until August 19 to confirm their commitment to complying with federal law. Otherwise, she wrote, they can “see us in court.”
Two weeks ago, the Justice Department (DOJ) published a list of sanctuary jurisdictions that are refusing to comply with federal immigration statutes.
Bondi’s letter continues the lawfare, which includes lawsuits against sanctuaries, that the Trump administration is waging to stop rebel jurisdictions from flouting federal immigration laws.
Noting that Congress “has Congress has codified the duty of states and local governments to cooperate in immigration enforcement efforts,” Bondi wrote that far-left sanctuary jurisdictions “have undermined” that partnership and openly “obstructed federal immigration enforcement, giving aliens cover to perpetrate crimes in our communities and evade the immigration consequences that federal law requires.”
On April 28, Bondi continued, in an executive order titled “Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens,” President Trump ordered the attorney general and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to identify and publish a list of sanctuary cities. In keeping with that order, Bondi told the sanctuary officials that she is:
committed to identifying state and local laws, policies, and practices that facilitate violations of federal immigration laws or impede lawful federal immigration operations, and taking legal action to challenge such laws, policies, or practices.
As well, “individuals operating under the color of law, using their official position to obstruct federal immigration enforcement efforts and facilitating or inducing illegal immigration may be subject to criminal charges.”
Those charged are subject to prosecution for trespassing the following statutes:
• 8 U.S. Code 1324, Bringing in and harboring aliens;
• 18 U.S. Code 371, Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud United States;
• 18 U.S. Code 1071, Concealing person from arrest;
• 18 U.S. Code 1505, Obstruction of proceedings before departments, agencies, and committees; and/or
• 8 U.S. Code 1373, Communication between government agencies and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
“This ends now,” Bondi wrote.
So, again, by August 19 recipients of the letter must confirm that they will comply with federal immigration law. They must identify “the immediate initiatives [they] are taking to eliminate laws, policies, and practices that impede federal immigration enforcement.”
Among the renegades who received the letter are Governors Gavin Newsom of California, Jared Polis of Colorado, Ned Lamont of Connecticut, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, Tim Walz of Minnesota, and Kathy Hochul of New York.
City and county officials include Cook County, Illinois, Board President Toni Preckwinkle; San Diego County Board Chairman Terra Lawson-Remer; Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mayor Tim Keller; and Boston, Massachusetts, Mayor Michelle Wu.
“Any sanctuary jurisdiction that continues to put illegal aliens ahead of American citizens can either come to the table or see us in court,” Bondi wrote on X.
Border czar Tom Homan has repeatedly warned sanctuary officials they would be prosecuted under the harboring statute. “They need to educate themselves,” he told Fox News of the sanctuary officials:
They need to review this. Title 8, United States Code 1324 III. Read about that and don’t cross that line because it is a felony to harbor and conceal an illegal alien from [Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. Read the statute. Don’t cross that line.
In January, former Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, recently confirmed to sit on the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, also warned that DOJ would prosecute mulish sanctuary officials.
In a memorandum to DOJ employees, he wrote that the Supremacy Clause requires state and local officials “to comply with the Executive Branch’s [constitutional] immigration enforcement initiatives.”
Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests pursuant to, for example, the President’s extensive Article II authority with respect to foreign affairs and national security, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Alien Enemies Act.
Thus, U.S. attorneys, he warned, will investigate “for potential prosecution” officials who defy the federal immigration laws that Bondi mentioned in her letter.
Since January 20, DOJ has filed myriad Supremacy Clause lawsuits to overturn unlawful sanctuary policies. So far, the administration has sued Los Angeles; Denver and Colorado; New York and New York City; and Chicago, Cook County, and the state of Illinois.
And early this month, DOJ sued Oklahoma and its board of education to block the state from giving illegal aliens in-state tuition, a violation of federal law that says “an alien who is not lawfully present in the United States shall not be eligible on the basis of residence within a State … for any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such a benefit … without regard to whether the citizen or national is such a resident.”