Immigration is key to Trump鈥檚 urban crime crackdown. DC is a case study.
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Sarah Matusek Staff writer
| Washington
President Donald Trump says he鈥檚 planning to expand his crackdown on crime, suggesting he may direct federal agents and troops to Chicago, Baltimore, or New Orleans. Any such campaign would follow nearly a month of an unprecedented federal intervention in the capital of the United States.
A lesson from Washington is that immigration enforcement is likely to play a central role alongside crime reduction efforts wherever the administration centers its attention next.
The cities President Trump has floated are led by Democrats and have raised the administration鈥檚 ire over their immigration policies. Chicago and New Orleans appear on a Department of Justice of 鈥渟anctuary jurisdictions鈥� that the administration says hinder enforcement of federal immigration laws. Baltimore showed up on an earlier version of that list. Attorney General Pam Bondi Washington鈥檚 sanctuary status as a reason for the federalization of the Police Department last month.
Why We Wrote This
As President Donald Trump considers intervening in additional U.S. cities to address crime, a takeaway from Washington is that immigration enforcement is at the forefront of the effort. That is drawing controversy among locals.
Threats 鈥渁re multiplied by the District鈥檚 sanctuary city policies, which actively shield criminal aliens from the consequences required by federal law,鈥� Ms. Bondi wrote in an Aug. 15 , directing the Police Department to work with federal immigration officials. The order identified the high level of illegal immigration during the Biden administration as presenting 鈥渆xtreme public safety and national security risks.鈥�
Early indicators from Washington show the significant but volatile results that Trump administration intervention can bring. The and tout an initial decline in violent crime. The Department of Homeland Security released a of who it says are criminals and unauthorized immigrants arrested in the district. Among immigrant communities, however, fearful residents have retreated from public view, and businesses report slowdowns. Grassroots resistance to the intervention is surging 鈥� and federal agencies are having to take precautions for the safety of their own enforcement personnel.
Logistics around the collaboration between police and immigration officers remain 鈥減retty murky,鈥� says Doris Meissner, director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the Migration Policy Institute.
鈥淚t does seem that the city 鈥� the mayor, the police chief, and so on 鈥� have simply decided to give over鈥� to presidential authority, she says.
Yet if the city shows what a forced partnership can achieve, it also showcases ensuing controversies 鈥� visible on the streets and in court. Here鈥檚 an up-close look at how all that is going.
Immigration arrests have been left to targeted operations and roving patrols of federal law enforcement, some masked, on the streets 鈥� not to National Guard troops. And local police officers are more closely cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE鈥檚 top official reported about 480 arrests in the district over the first two weeks of the police takeover.
On Thursday, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued Mr. Trump over the deployment of guard troops in the city. That follows a federal judge ruling in California on Sept. 2 that Mr. Trump鈥檚 use of troops in Los Angeles violated a law barring the military from domestic law enforcement duties.
How federal agents and D.C. police are partnering
Mr. Trump鈥檚 鈥渃rime emergency鈥� on Aug. 11 invoked a provision of the district鈥檚 Home Rule Act, and directed the U.S. attorney general to assume oversight of the police. The order is set to expire Sept. 10; Congress could vote to extend it, but .
Based on that order, the administration initially sought to replace Pamela Smith, the police chief of Washington鈥檚 Metropolitan Police Department, with the head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. A federal judge鈥檚 warning .
Metropolitan Police Department prohibits officers from questioning people about immigration status, unless relevant to a criminal investigation. But in an Aug. 14 , Chief Smith said the department could assist federal immigration authorities with information-sharing about individuals 鈥渘ot in MPD custody鈥� 鈥� for example, at traffic stops.
Joint patrols and checkpoints with local police and federal agents have resulted in arrests, including of delivery drivers from Central and South America who are put into immigration detention, The Washington Post. The Police Department says it began scooter enforcement last year 鈥渋n response to community complaints鈥� about unsafe driving.
Another outcome of the federal intervention in Washington is that ICE personnel are riding in the same vehicles as local police 鈥渋n some cases,鈥� says Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE.
Border Patrol agents are also active. They 鈥渃an make arrests for federal crimes committed in their presence or for any federal felony that they have probable cause to believe a person has committed,鈥� says Rhonda Lawson, a spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Those agents have been deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service for the D.C. operation, and they work closely with local police, she says.
Immigrant advocates in the D.C. area say local leaders have abused locals鈥� trust in the police. Anusc猫 Sanai, associate director of legal programs at the nonprofit Ayuda, says her organization typically advises immigrants to call 911 in dangerous situations, regardless of their legal status. 鈥淔or the first time,鈥� she says, 鈥渨e find ourselves unsure as to what to say.鈥�
Mr. Lyons of ICE recommends that immigrant victims of crimes continue to seek help. 鈥淲e are not actively arresting victims,鈥� he told the Monitor in an interview.
Separately, the administration has warned that all immigrants in the country illegally are subject to deportation 鈥� not just those deemed public safety or national security threats. Roughly in immigration detention do not have criminal convictions, according to ICE data.
Locals react to ICE
The enforcement actions are stirring opposition among residents who see the deportation program as cruel or unfair to people who may have been living and working in the country for years without committing violent crimes. Many street corners in Washington are papered with locals鈥� disdain for ICE. 鈥淐owards! Losers! Thugs!鈥� reads a poster with a cartoon masked ICE agent.
A hotline for ICE sightings is managed by the Migrant Solidarity for Mutual Aid Network, which also coordinates resources like food drop-offs for immigrants who fear leaving their homes. On a street in Columbia Heights, a tall tree bears a makeshift memorial for the Aug. 25 arrest of 鈥淎ngel H.鈥�
A financial analyst named Sarah, who like others interviewed asked that her last name not be published for security concerns, came out to the street to watch the arrest. People she believes were federal agents punched the man in the head to subdue him, she recalls. ICE has not answered a request to clarify what transpired.
鈥淚 think seeing something this violent is so violating that it will change your perspective on how the policing of illegal immigrants is taking place,鈥� she says.
ICE, meanwhile, points to violence against its officers and agents. With an uptick in alleged assaults against federal law enforcement, ICE leadership says the agency is seeking safety in numbers.
鈥淚nstead of sending the normal four to five officers to go make the arrest on the street, we now have to double that number, because the arrest teams actually have to have security for what they鈥檙e doing,鈥� Mr. Lyons says.
On the night of Aug. 27, a Monitor reporter saw four agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) 鈥� a component of ICE covering criminal investigations 鈥� appear to detain an individual on a residential street. None wore masks.
A tense crowd gathered to record the incident 鈥� one agent said they were also recording 鈥� as Metropolitan Police Department officers began to arrive. Onlookers asked about the reason for the detention. One of the HSI agents, who offered his badge number, said their actions were 鈥渘ormal law enforcement.鈥�
鈥淣othing crazy going on in D.C. right now to make us stressed about you guys, right?鈥� an onlooker responded.
As the federal and local law enforcement vehicles eventually drove away, the crowd shouted after the red and blue lights. 鈥淪hame! Shame! Shame!鈥�
An incident report later reviewed by the Monitor says the police, who ultimately made the arrest, responded to a call to assist HSI based on a suspected 鈥渉and to hand narcotics transaction.鈥� An unspecified amount of cocaine was seized, according to the report.
Proponents of the local-federal law enforcement cooperation say it鈥檚 long overdue.
鈥淚t was somewhat problematic that you had our federal capital city purporting to not cooperate in enforcing federal immigration law,鈥� says Zack Smith, a senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
Outside the district鈥檚 unique jurisdiction, he says, the federal government can鈥檛 force state and local officials to enforce federal immigration law, but it can incentivize cooperation through access to funds.
A federal judge on Aug. 22 extended a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from withholding funding from sanctuary jurisdictions. The administration is appealing.
Economic impacts
Economic concerns are rising among immigrant communities in Washington.
Businesses run and patronized by immigrants in Columbia Heights say they鈥檝e had fewer customers since the federal crackdown began. Many who live and shop here are Hispanic.
On a recent evening, Yajaira Carrillo sits outside her hair salon, unsure of what to do. Her clientele has dwindled, and she has rent to pay.
鈥淚 have my papers, thank God,鈥� says the green-card holder. 鈥淏ut I鈥檓 exposed all the same.鈥�
She left Venezuela before the pandemic, as 鈥淔ood was difficult to find,鈥� she says. Now, Ms. Carrillo worries for other Venezuelans living here without legal authorization.
Elsewhere, behind the counter of a small shop, a woman named Maira also says, 鈥淪ales have been low, very low,鈥� for the past few weeks.
She fears deportation, but says she can鈥檛 afford to stop work. Maira has a toddler, born a U.S. citizen. She鈥檚 also wary of an upcoming immigration court date, given mounting news of courthouse arrests that critics say endanger due process. Still, Maira says she thinks she鈥檒l go.
Between lunch and dinner service at a restaurant, Edin, who says he crossed into the U.S. illegally as a teenager years ago, also fears deportation. He essentially only ventures between work and home these days.
Edin says he鈥檚 on board with the crime crackdown; a friend was beaten on the street and 鈥渓eft almost dead.鈥�
At the same time, he says the campaign is also 鈥渁ffecting us good people, who are working.鈥�
How do you think immigration is affecting the place where you live?聽Tell us at聽immigration@csmonitor.com, and the Monitor may follow up to learn more. Your name and response will not be published without your permission. Your responses may shape the stories we report and how we report them.
