U.S. Attorney for the District of California, Bill Essayli, announced the formation of the “Operation Guardian Angel,” a task force designed to challenge local and state policies that hinder federal immigration enforcement. The task force will focus on identifying and prosecuting violations of federal immigration laws, particularly in jurisdictions that have adopted sanctuary policies.
The task force is composed of personnel from ICE, HSI, DEA, FBI, ATF, and Border Patrol. The team will conduct daily scans of a criminal database to identify arrested illegal aliens in local jurisdictions who can be federally charged with felony illegal reentry.
Essayli shared with Fox News: “They’ve made it almost impossible for ICE to do their job, issue detainers and get criminal illegal immigrants out of jails. So what we’re doing instead is we’re going to start issuing warrants…We’re going to flood the system with warrants for criminal illegal immigration that are in county jails, they can ignore a detainer, but they cannot ignore a criminal arrest warrant.
“As soon as an illegal immigrant is booked into a county jail, we’re reviewing their file. And if they meet the elements of illegal reentry, which is a federal crime, we are filing a complaint and getting an arrest warrant issued before they’re released from state custody.”
Essayli has stated that California will become the “testing ground” for other blue states with sanctuary jurisdictions across the country.
Vice President JD Vance has publicly criticized leaders of sanctuary cities and states, accusing them of undermining law enforcement and enabling crime. He reaffirmed the administration’s “zero tolerance” stance on reducing or defunding law enforcement and warned sanctuary jurisdictions that they face potential federal defunding if they don’t cooperate on immigration enforcement.
The DOJ has already filed lawsuits against states like Illinois and cities like Chicago, accusing them of unlawfully interfering with federal immigration policies through sanctuary laws. These legal actions target state laws that prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, citing violations of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
