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Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a two-page order on Thursday rescinding illegal immigration protections in Washington, D.C., and naming an “emergency police commissioner” for the city’s Metropolitan Police Department.
Bondi’s order, titled “Restoring Safety and Security to the District of Columbia,” mostly took aim at sanctuary city policies within the nation’s capital, rescinding any order that limits how Metropolitan police officers can handle interactions and incidents with illegal immigrants.
She also stripped power from Metro Police Chief Pamela Smith by naming Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole as the department’s “emergency police commissioner,” granting him all the “powers and duties vested” in the position.
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Cole has the ability to issue general orders, executive orders and written directives affecting all members of the department, and existing department leadership must receive his approval before issuing directives of their own.
Bondi also explicitly rescinded three orders issued by the Metro police within the past two years related to illegal immigration – the most recent one being an executive order issued by Smith earlier on Thursday limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
While Smith’s order stated that Metro officers could now assist in “sharing information about persons not in MPD custody” and provide “transportation for federal immigration agency employees and detained subjects,” it prohibited personnel from making “any inquiry through any database solely for the purpose of inquiring about” immigration status.
“Members shall not arrest individuals based solely on federal immigration warrants or detainers as long as there is no additional criminal warrant or underlying offense for which the individual is subject to arrest,” the order stated.
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Bondi rescinded that order hours later. She also suspended a June 2024 general order limiting inquiries into immigration status and an October 2023 general order preventing arrests solely for federal immigration warrants.
“To the extent that provisions in this order conflict with any existing MPD directives, those directives are hereby rescinded,” Bondi concluded in her order on Thursday.
The order comes after President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Monday declaring a crime emergency in the nation’s capital and announcing a federal takeover of the police department.
Since then, federal law enforcement and the National Guard have been visible throughout the district. On Wednesday night alone, numerous agencies arrested 45 people – 29 of them illegal immigrants – as part of the major crime crackdown.
“Residents of the District of Columbia, the thousands of Americans who commute into the District for work every day, and the millions of tourists from all over the world who visit our nation’s capital have a right to feel safe and to be free from the scourge of violent crime,” Bondi’s order stated.
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