A new Department of Justice memo directs federal prosecutors to investigate local jurisdictions it believes are impeding deportation plans outlined by the new Trump administration.
The memo says jurisdictions with so-called sanctuary policies toward immigrants could face criminal charges, and directs the agency’s civil division to identify state and local laws that threaten to impede immigration efforts — like mass deportations and other crackdowns.
Gerardo Castillo is the chief deputy of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. It’s a Democratic stronghold where residents have family on both sides of the border. He says he hasn’t heard yet about the new memo, but in general he’s trying to avoid speculation.
“What if they ask you this? What if they ask you that? As long as it’s not law, I don’t think there’s a lot I can respond to,” he said.
Castillo says his department’s deputies are largely focused on responding to property crime and other 911 calls in Nogales. And historically, putting immigration-related arrest authority into the hands of local law enforcement has been challenged in court.
“Senate Bill 1070 was challenged and there was an Arizona sheriff that continued with the process,” he said.
Arizona’s SB1070 allowed local law enforcement to make immigration-related arrests until it was mostly struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Then-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio later faced additional legal issues for racial profiling allegations.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been updated to correct Gerardo Castillo's name.
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The ruling comes a day after news broke of the government’s plan to offer legal aid to detained immigrant children through a $150 million contract Burke Law Group — a small Texas-based firm with a co-founder who is a former Trump appointee. -
A notice posted on the Federal Register this week details a $150 million government contract with Burke Law Group to represent unaccompanied immigrant children. A multimillion-dollar contact with nonprofits across the country to do the work expired Friday. -
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is supposed to help people during disasters like floods and fires. But a new report finds the Trump administration diverted FEMA staff at key times to do something very different — help ICE in immigration enforcement. -
The DACA program turned 14 this year. The Obama-era initiative is supposed to give some undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children a work permit and temporary protection from deportation. But community members say that’s no longer the case under President Donald Trump. -
Some 20,000 children alone in the US receive legal aid through the contract — part of a federal program established by Congress almost two decades ago. The contract to do that work expires July 31.
