Trump Drags Justice Department Into His War on Immigrants

Donald Trump’s Justice Department is already beginning its anti-immigration crusade, starting with policing state and local governments.

The Associated Press obtained a department memo Wednesday directing federal prosecutors to investigate state and local government officials who interfere with new federal immigration laws. The memo states that prosecutors should “take all steps necessary to protect the public and secure the American border by removing illegal aliens from the country and prosecuting illegal aliens for crimes.”

If state or local officials obstruct or add hurdles to federal immigration enforcement, prosecutors are ordered to look at potential criminal charges.

“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests,” the memo states. “The U.S. Attorney’s Offices and litigating components of the Department of Justice shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution.”

This is all part of Trump’s campaign promise to carry out mass deportations, given that such a large-scale effort will require cooperation from local and state authorities. Republican officials have already pledged their support, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is already taking steps to pass laws to assist the deportation effort.

But Trump is headed for a clash with Democratic state and local officials, many of whom, like California Governor Gavin Newsom, are already preparing to take on the new administration with lawsuits and special legislation of their own. The next weeks and months are going to involve plenty of chaos and legal fights between Trump and immigration advocates.

Trump’s pardons don’t stop with violent January 6 insurrectionists. On Tuesday, he also freed a massive dark web drug dealer.

Ross Ulbricht ran Silk Road, an online black market that moved $200 million worth of illegal drugs, distributed fake passports, helped hackers collaborate, and laundered money. He was also prosecuted for allegedly soliciting six murders for hire, one against a former employee.

Ulbricht was sentenced to double life imprisonment, plus 40 years, in 2015.

“Make no mistake: Ulbricht was a drug dealer and criminal profiteer who exploited people’s addictions and contributed to the deaths of at least six young people,” said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara after Ulbricht’s sentencing. “Ulbricht went from hiding his cybercrime identity to becoming the face of cybercrime and as today’s sentence proves, no one is above the law.”

Trump initially promised to pardon Ulbricht during a speech at the 2024 Libertarian Convention, making a direct appeal to the right-of-center crowd for their votes.

“And if you vote for me, on day one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced.… He’s already served 11 years. We’re gonna get him home. I’m proud that I have put forward a detailed plan to smash the censorship and industrial complex and restore free speech.” The room erupted in cheers of “FREE ROSS.”

“I just called the mother of Ross William Ulbricht to let her know that in honor of her and the Libertarian Movement, which supported me so strongly, it was my pleasure to have just signed a full and unconditional pardon of her son, Ross,” the president wrote on Truth Social Tuesday evening. “The scum that worked to convict him were some of the same lunatics who were involved in the modern day weaponization of government against me. He was given two life sentences, plus 40 years. Ridiculous!”

“Immense gratitude to everyone who voted for President Trump on my behalf. I trust him to honor his pledge and give me a second chance,” Ulbricht wrote on X. “After 11+ years in darkness, I can finally see the light of freedom at the end of the tunnel.”

All federal employees in diversity, equity, and inclusion roles will be placed on paid leave by the end of Wednesday, thanks to a new mandate by President Donald Trump.

The forty-seventh president has set a deadline that all DEI-related offices, programs, and their related websites and social media accounts shall be shuttered by 5 p.m., according to a memo from the Office of Personnel Management.

The memo also states that federal agencies need to submit a written plan by the end of the month for dismissing the DEI employees.

“President Trump campaigned on ending the scourge of DEI from our federal government and returning America to a merit based society where people are hired based on their skills, not for the color of their skin,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News in a statement Tuesday night, adding that the move to oust diversity roles—which Trump had mentioned in his inaugural speech—should come as “no surprise.”

“This is another win for Americans of all races, religions, and creeds. Promises made, promises kept,” Leavitt said.

Trump signed an executive order ending the programs Monday night. The order, titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” accused the Biden-era diversity policies of being “illegal and immoral discrimination programs.”

But outside of the federal government and in corporate America, the administration’s message on diversity initiatives is loud and clear: They are, simply, not necessary. Mentions of DEI in company earnings calls have dropped by approximately 82 percent since Q2 of 2021, reported Axios.

The shift away from DEI began when the Supreme Court ruled on the diversity program in 2023, but the “trickle became a flood” after Trump’s election victory, with companies such as Harley Davidson, Ford, Molson Coors, Walmart, and McDonald’s peeling back their corporate diversity commitments, according to the Financial Times.

Major social media companies, including Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, have simultaneously stripped their respective platforms of their content-moderation divisions. Earlier this month, an updated version of Meta’s hateful conduct policy suddenly allowed users on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads to refer to women as property, Black people as “farm equipment,” transgender individuals as “it,” and LGBTQ+-identifying persons as mentally ill.

“What we’re seeing is companies looking at the holistic picture—like social media campaigns that have been run against companies and the political environment in which you have not only Trump, but his closest advisors, such as Elon Musk, going after particular companies around DEI,” Ann O’Leary, partner and co-chair of government controversies and public policy litigation practice at Jenner & Block, told Axios on Thursday. “But we’re also seeing companies really taking a close look at why they’re doing what they’re doing.”

It seems that Donald Trump was extremely triggered after being called out during a service at the Washington National Cathedral, taking to social media to post a rant in the early hours of Wednesday.

Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and their spouses attended a service at the Episcopal church on Tuesday, and were faced with a surprising direct appeal from Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde. The bishop of Washington urged Trump to “have mercy” on gay, lesbian, and transgender children, as well as undocumented immigrants who now have to fear his sweeping deportation raids, even though “the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.”

But it didn’t seem that mercy was of any interest to Trump. Not even at church.

“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social hours later. “She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way.

“She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA,” Trump wrote.

“Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job,” he continued. “She and her church owe the public an apology!”

The post was signed “t,” indicating that it was actually written by Trump and not one of his staffers.

It seems that Trump cannot hear a plea for mercy without becoming so enraged he starts name-calling and demanding an apology—a great quality for a president to have.

President Donald Trump was directly called out to his face during a sermon at the Washington National Cathedral Tuesday.

Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and their spouses were in attendance for the church service at the progressive institution, and had to listen as the Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal bishop at the cathedral, delivered a direct appeal to the president to conclude her sermon.

“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families—some who fear for their lives,” Budde said, but didn’t stop at LGBTQ rights, going on to address Trump’s plans for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.

“The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals—they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals,” Budde continued.

The bishop then called on Trump “to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here.”

It was a bold address for a Christian leader to make to the famously thin-skinned president to his face, particularly since Trump has been avoiding confrontational appearances and interviews for several months. When asked about the prayer event later Tuesday, Trump was dismissive, telling the press that the service was “not too exciting” and “they can do much better.”

Supporters of the president were none too happy with Budde’s remarks, with Representative Mike Collins posting that the bishop should be “added to the deportation list” and pundit Charlie Kirk saying that “she disgraced herself with a lecture you’d hear on CNN or an episode of The View.”

But, following Trump’s inauguration, Budde has the honor of being the first person to publicly confront the president to his face, at a time when many Americans will be looking for some form of hope in the face of what could be a very dark four years. Perhaps Trump’s other opponents should take inspiration in their attempts to thwart the president’s immediate agenda.