
In a directive late Tuesday, the acting deputy attorney general, Emil Bove, instructed the Department of Justice to launch criminal investigations into state and local officials whose policies do not adhere to the Trump administration’s federal policies with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an elaborate “scare” tactic foreshadowed late in President Trump’s first term.
The memo, issued by Bove, previously Trump’s criminal defense lawyer, warned that state and local officials who do not comply with ICE would be subject to investigation and potential criminal prosecution, citing the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution and threats to “public safety and national security.”