photo by: AP/Mark Schiefelbein

The logo for the Justice Department is seen before a news conference at the Department of Justice, Aug. 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is directing its federal prosecutors to investigate for potential criminal charges any state or local officials who stand in the way of beefed-up enforcement of immigration laws under the Trump administration, according to a memo to the workforce obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The memo, written by acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, also instructs the Justice Department’s civil division to work with a newly formed Sanctuary Cities Enforcement Working Group to identify state and local laws and policies that “threaten to impede” the Trump administration’s immigration efforts and potentially challenge them in court.

The three-page memo signals an immediate and sharp turnabout in priorities from President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration, with prosecutors told in no uncertain terms that they will be on the front lines of an administration-wide effort to crack down on illegal immigration and border crime and that they are expected to carry out the policy vision of President Donald Trump’s Republican White House when it comes to violent crimes, the threat of transnational gangs and drug trafficking.

“Indeed, it is the responsibility of the Justice Department to defend the Constitution, and accordingly, to lawfully execute the policies that the American people elected President Trump to implement,” wrote Bove, who prior to joining the administration was part of the legal team that defended Trump against two criminal cases brought by the Justice Department.

“The Justice Department’s responsibility, proudly shouldered by each of its employees, includes aggressive enforcement of laws enacted by Congress, as well as vigorous defense of the President’s actions on behalf of the United States against legal challenges,” Bove added. “The Department’s personnel must come together in the offices that taxpayers have funded to do this important work.”

As the Journal-World reported earlier this month, Douglas County was included on a list of local governments that the Trump-aligned group that America First Legal deemed as a “sanctuary jurisdiction” for undocumented immigrants. That letter to the chair of the Douglas County Commission warned that local officials were at significant risk of criminal and civil liability.”

County Commission Chair Karen Willey told the Journal-World in early January that the letter from America First Legal provided no specifics about how Douglas County is supposedly violating the law, and Willey said she believes the county is in compliance with all laws. However, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office has acknowledged that it doesn’t comply with all types of detainer requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Sheriff Jay Armbrister told the Journal-World in early January that his office has stopped accepting what’s known as ICE Form I-274a, a request sent by ICE to a local law enforcement agency to hold a person suspected to be in the country illegally for a limited time. Armbrister said his office has taken that position, in part, because the request to detain the individual is not signed by a judge, but rather by an ICE official.

The new memo said federal prosecutors must “take all steps necessary to protect the public and secure the American border by removing illegal aliens from the country and prosecuting illegal aliens for crimes” committed in U.S. jurisdiction.”

The memo suggests there will be a spike in immigration cases under the new administration, instructing U.S. attorney’s offices across the country to inform courts of its policy “and develop processes for handling the increased number of prosecutions that will result.” Any decisions by federal prosecutors to decline to prosecute immigration violations must be disclosed to Justice Department headquarters in so-called “urgent reports,” which are used to update leadership on law enforcement emergencies or significant matters of national interest.

It also directs prosecutors to investigate for potential criminal charges cases in which state and local officials obstruct or impede federal functions. As potential avenues for prosecution, the memo cites a conspiracy offense as well as a law prohibiting the harboring of people in the country illegally.

“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests,” the memo says. “The U.S. Attorney’s Offices and litigating components of the Department of Justice shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution.

The Justice Department is also directing the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces to “assist in the execution of President Trump’s immigration-related initiatives,” though the memo did not elaborate on what that work might entail. It also ordered the department’s components, such as the FBI and the federal Bureau of Prisons, to hand over to the Department of Homeland Security any “identifying information” they might have about people believed to be in the country illegally “for the sole purpose of facilitating appropriate removals, enforcement actions, and immigration-related investigations and prosecutions.”

The memo also says the department will return to the principle of charging defendants with the most serious crime it can prove, a staple position of Republican-led departments meant to remove a prosecutor’s discretion to charge a lower-level offense. And it rescinds policies implemented by Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland, including one designed to end sentencing disparities that have imposed harsher penalties for different forms of cocaine.

“The most serious charges are those punishable by death where applicable, and offenses with the most significant mandatory minimum sentences,” Bove wrote.

It is common for Justice Departments to shift enforcement priorities under a new presidential administration in compliance with White House policy ambitions. The memo reflects the constant push-and-pull between Democratic and Republican administrations over how best to commit resources to what officials regard as the most urgent threat of the time.

The edict to charge the most readily provable offense, for instance, is consistent with directives from prior Republican attorneys general including John Ashcroft and Jeff Sessions, while Democratic attorneys general including Eric Holder and Garland have replaced the policy and instead encouraged prosecutorial discretion.

— The Associated Press contributed information to this report.