Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove traveled to Chicago to oversee one of the Trump administration’s first immigration enforcement operations and said Sunday that agents from the Justice Department had joined immigration enforcement agents to deal with a “national emergency.” .
The Trump administration has pledged to increase deportation efforts and has enlisted various law enforcement agencies within the Department of Justice – the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals – – – U.S. Marshals – – – US Marshals – To assist in this effort in Chicago and elsewhere.
Mr. Bove said in a written statement that he watched as agents from the Department of Justice and Homeland Security deployed to the castle “to address a national emergency arising from four years of failed immigration policy.” The Justice Department, he added, was working to “secure the border, stop this invasion and make America safe again.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement that federal agencies have launched “increased targeted operations” in Chicago “to enforce American immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminals out of our communities.”
Mr Bove urged local officials to help in the effort and warned there could be consequences for those who do not.
“We will support everyone at the federal, state and local levels who join this critical mission to take back our communities,” he said. “We will use all available tools to address obstruction and other unlawful obstructions in our efforts to protect the homeland.”
Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday that his state will cooperate with federal authorities in deporting undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes or with pending deportation orders. But he emphasized that state law enforcement agencies will not engage in targeted raids or profiling of people in the state who may be undocumented.
Mr. Pritzker also said there was no new legal basis for the memo Mr. Bove issued last week, which means the department can investigate and prosecute officials in any jurisdiction who refuse to help with a deportation crackdown. “They’re just putting it out because they want to threaten everybody,” he said.
Immigration enforcement is a daily feature of the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees agencies including ICE. But the Trump administration has vowed to devote more staff to the Justice Department because it requires more aggressive action.
Mr. Bove, who was part of Mr. Trump’s defense team in his Manhattan criminal case, now oversees much of the department’s day-to-day operations as the Senate works toward a confirmation vote on Pam Bondi, Mr. Trump’s nominee for attorney general. A vote on her nomination is expected this week.
Hamed Aleziz and Minho Kim contributed reporting.
