As federal activity takes root in DC, police chief orders more cooperation with immigration agents https://t.co/DDv6dtTRO3
The D.C. Metropolitan Police Department will NOW have limited cooperation with ICE and will notify them of illegal aliens in custody, including during traffic stops, and will assist immigration authorities in transporting detained illegal immigrants. Executive Order by the D.C. https://t.co/JrDnMs87TL
The police chief of Washington, D.C., ordered an increase in cooperation between local officers and federal immigration agents on Thursday. https://t.co/njXrhwu3m3
Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department will for the first time share information with federal immigration authorities after Chief Pamela Smith signed an executive order on Thursday. The directive, effective immediately, instructs officers to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement when undocumented immigrants are encountered during traffic stops or other interactions, and authorises police to transport detainees for federal agents. The order rolls back limits that had largely kept the force from aiding civil immigration enforcement. The policy shift follows President Donald Trump’s decision earlier in the week to place the city’s police under federal control and deploy about 800 National Guard troops as part of a broader crime crackdown. Federal and local officers arrested 45 people during a checkpoint operation on Wednesday night, including 29 undocumented immigrants. Trump welcomed Smith’s order, calling the move “a great step.” Mayor Muriel Bowser, who was out of the city on Thursday, has maintained that Washington is not a formal “sanctuary” jurisdiction but previously backed measures that restricted cooperation with ICE. Smith’s order underscores the expanding federal role in day-to-day policing of the nation’s capital and signals a marked departure from the city’s prior stance on immigration enforcement.