The interim leadership of the Justice Department has ordered U.S. attorneys around the country to investigate and prosecute law enforcement officials in states and cities if they refuse to enforce the Trump administration’s new immigration policies, according to an internal department memo.

The three-page memo, intended as guidance to all department employees for carrying out President Donald Trump’s executive orders seeking to limit immigration and foreign gangs, asserts that state and local officials are bound to cooperate with the department under the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause and could face criminal prosecution or civil penalties if they fail to comply.

The memo came as the Department of Homeland Security prepared to make targeted raids in cities, including Chicago, with high numbers of undocumented immigrants — setting up a possible confrontation with local officials. The document underscored the central role the Justice Department will play in enforcing Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda.

“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands,” wrote Emil Bove III, the department’s interim deputy attorney general and a former member of the president’s criminal defense team.

U.S. attorneys’ offices and officials from various branches of the department’s Washington headquarters “shall investigate instances involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution,” Bove wrote, pointing to the same federal obstruction law used in the federal indictment against Trump that accused him of inciting the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Bove also warned localities against taking action to contradict the new federal policies and instructed the department’s civil lawyers to “identify state and local laws, policies, and activities” that flout Trump’s executive orders and “where appropriate, to take legal action to challenge such laws.”

The memo did not provide information about how extensive the planned raids or other actions would be. But it cited the fentanyl and opioid crisis, gang activity and crime by immigrants as justifications for the impending immigration crackdown.

The unusual missive, written in blustery language, doubled as a warning shot to department employees who slow-walk or refuse to aggressively enact “the president’s actions” or federal law.

A copy of the memo was obtained by The New York Times and was earlier reported by Bloomberg Law.

The Trump team, concerned that career department employees will not execute orders they deem to be immoral or unlawful, has considered transferring or instigating disciplinary actions against prosecutors who refuse to comply with commands.

They have also been making plans to transfer prosecutors to five U.S. attorneys’ offices near the border with Mexico, and have discussed tactics to pressure recalcitrant departmental employees to unpalatable jobs in an effort to encourage their mass departure, according to people familiar with transition planning.

In the memo, Bove ordered prosecutors to immediately step up immigration investigations against the most dangerous undocumented immigrants, and warned employees that “any deviations” from that policy had to be cleared with supervisors.

In addition, prosecutors will be required to file an “urgent report” if they decide not to bring charges against serious offenders. The department will also begin tracking cases brought by each U.S. attorney’s office on a quarterly basis.

The memo also instructed other parts of the Justice Department — including the Bureau of Prisons, F.B.I., Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — to share any information they have regarding the immigration status of people they investigate or regulate.

Glenn Thrush is a reporter with The New York Times. Copyright 2025, The New York Times.