WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is directing its federal prosecutors to investigate 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 entire workforce obtained The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The memo was written by Emil Bove, the acting deputy attorney general. The memo 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.
The three-page memo signals an immediate and sharp turnabout in priorities from the prior administration.
Eric Tucker And Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press
