As President Trump begins his promised crackdown on illegal immigration, his administration is sending a stark warning to public officials who refuse to enforce federal law.
Local officials who harbor illegal aliens could face prosecution, Trump adviser Stephen Miller warned.
"The law is clear that harboring an illegal alien, smuggling an illegal alien, obstructing law enforcement, obstructing an official proceeding and a conspiracy to violate the rights of Americans, all of these and many more are criminal statutes," Miller told Fox News' Jesse Watters on Wednesday.
Hundreds of aliens have already been arrested, including sex offenders and other violent criminals.
"The initial immigration raids have already arrested and removed some of the most vicious criminals in this country, including child pornography cases, homicide cases, sexual assault attacks on children," Miller said.
"This is just the very beginning in the effort to liberate this country from the migrant criminal threat. In the coming days, you're going to see a massive scale-up in enforcement activities all across the country to dismantle this criminal network."
Within hours of returning to the White House on Monday, President Trump issued a series of sweeping orders restricting mass immigration - from declaring a national emergency at the border to suspending asylum.
The Trump administration has also lifted restrictions on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), empowering agents to make arrests at schools, churches, and other locations forbidden by past administrations.
Democratic states and localities have pledged to shield aliens from deportation, but the Trump administration is warning that such obstruction won't be tolerated.
The Justice Department issued a memo instructing federal prosecutors to target state and local officials in so-called "sanctuary" jurisdictions who interfere with federal immigration enforcement.
“Indeed, it is the responsibility of the Justice Department to defend the Constitution, and accordingly, to lawfully execute the policies that the American people elected President Trump to implement,” acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said.
Miller warned that "no one is above the law, not illegal aliens, and not anyone who may choose to illegally harbor those aliens."
"With respect to sanctuary cities overall, they are going to be flooded by federal law enforcement to find and remove these criminal threats," Miller said.
"The law of this nation is being restored by President Trump. The sovereignty of this nation is being restored by President Trump, and the cartels are being designated as terrorists, and they are going to be sent packing."
