Pam Bondi SUES Chicago over sanctuary city laws after sending DOJ into frenzy with sweeping pro-MAGA directives

Attorney General Pam Bondi is suing Illinois and the metropolis of Chicago implicit it's sanctuary metropolis policies.   

The caller Justice Department caput didn't discarded immoderate clip overhauling the bureau erstwhile officially taking her oath of bureau connected Wednesday.

President Donald Trump's prime got close to enactment by issuing 14 orders and directives to instrumentality the administration's caller priorities astatine 1 of the agencies slightest trusted by the MAGA base.

Among those was ordering her offices to analyse alleged sanctuary cities that thwart migration officials and instrumentality policies oregon practices that antagonistic national laws.

Her archetypal afloat time connected the occupation Thursday, Bondi filed a suit against the authorities of Illinois, Cook County and the metropolis of Chicago.

She argues successful the filing that their sanctuary laws 'interfere' with Immigration and Customs Enforcement's quality to apprehension and deport amerciable migrants.

Bondi, 59, was portion of Trump's defence squad successful his archetypal impeachment trial. Before that she served arsenic Attorney General of Florida.

Now, she is heading the U.S. Justice Department aft the Senate confirmed her successful a 54-46 ballot connected Tuesday. Democrat Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania joined each Republicans to ballot for her confirmation.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas swore-in Bondi during an Oval Office ceremonial with Trump connected Wednesday.

Democrat absorption to Bondi's confirmation and sweeping 'weaponization' orders

Trump, who pledged to extremity weaponization of the DOJ, admitted that it mightiness not beryllium imaginable for Bondi to beryllium 'totally impartial with respect to Democrats' arsenic she takes pb of the nation's apical instrumentality enforcement agency.

'She's going to reconstruct fair, adjacent and impartial justness and reconstruct the law regularisation of instrumentality successful America,' Trump said of Bondi connected Wednesday.

'She volition pb the Democrats, you cognize wherever they're gonna – she's gonna pb them close now,' Trump said, cutting himself off.

'But I deliberation she's going to beryllium arsenic impartial arsenic you perchance tin be,' helium assured. 'I cognize I'm expected to accidental she's going to beryllium wholly impartial with respect to Democrats, and I deliberation she volition beryllium arsenic impartial arsenic a idiosyncratic tin be. I'm not definite if there's a anticipation of totally. But she's going to beryllium arsenic full arsenic you tin get.'

Senate Judiciary Ranking Member Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) tore into Trump and Bondi, saying helium hopes to beryllium proven incorrect of his assumptions connected however the DOJ volition run going forward.

'This is not the opening of a serious, apolitical Justice Department,' helium wrote connected X. 'We anticipation Pam Bondi proves america wrong.'

Durbin and each different Democratic members of the sheet voted against Bondi's information arsenic Attorney General making it retired of the committee for a afloat level ballot connected her confirmation this week.

But their efforts arsenic the number enactment successful Congress were futile.

Several made remarks connected the level of the Senate to dependable their absorption to Bondi's becoming the adjacent AG.

'We request an Attorney General who knows their work is to the radical – not the President,' said Judiciary subordinate Sen. Adam Shciff (D-Calif.).

'That idiosyncratic is not Pam Bondi,' helium claimed.

Rescinding backing for sanctuary jurisdictions

It was wide that 1 of Bondi's main goals was to align with Trump's borderline crackdown and people amerciable migration enforcement to marque definite each states, cities and localities are pursuing national law.

Her archetypal time arsenic AG connected Thursday, Bondi filed a suit against Illinois and Chicago for blatantly opposing specified migration laws and preventing national officials from carrying retired their duties to detain and deport amerciable aliens.

'Upon accusation and belief, the behaviour of officials successful Chicago and Illinois minimally enforcing—and oftentimes affirmatively thwarting—federal migration laws implicit a play of years has resulted successful countless criminals being released into Chicago who should person been held for migration removal from the United States,' the suit reads.

City officials said astatine the extremity of January that much than 100 immigrants person been taken into custody successful Chicago and the surrounding country since Trump took bureau connected January 20.  

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was already asked by Congress to look with different mayors connected Capitol Hill to sermon their cities sanctuary policies. 

Thursday's suit is the archetypal of galore to travel successful antithetic sanctuary jurisdictions, Justice Department officials confirm.

Some different areas that could person their full states oregon largest cities added to deed database are California, Michigan, Oregon, Washington and Colorado.

If immoderate state, cities oregon different section governments are engaged successful preventing, evading oregon going against national migration laws, the DOJ volition instruct backing to beryllium withheld from those jurisdictions.

Bondi's suit states that Illinoi and Chicago officials engaged successful an 'intentional effort to obstruct the Federal Government's enforcement of national migration instrumentality and to impede consultation and connection betwixt federal, state, and section instrumentality enforcement officials that is indispensable for national officials to transportation retired national migration instrumentality and support Americans safe.'

Ordering DOJ unit backmost to office

Bondi instantly issues an bid for each Justice employees and unit to instrumentality to enactment in-person full-time successful accordance with Trump's enforcement enactment wholly ending authorities telework and work-from-home policies.

She said that for DOJ workers, which includes unit with the FBI, moving remotely deteriorates the spot of those who privation the bureau to stay objective.

'As national employees, we are held to the highest standards-and maintaining a wide favoritism betwixt our nonrecreational duties and idiosyncratic lives is indispensable to maintaining nationalist trust,' Bondi wrote successful 1 of the 14 orders she issued connected Wednesday.

'The Presidential Memorandum directs heads of agencies to beforehand that nonsubjective for the payment of the American people, and I privation to convey you for ensuring the Department achieves afloat compliance,' she noted.

Ending diversity, equity and inclusion practices

The caller Attorney General says her DOJ volition besides absorption connected making definite that each authorities agencies are complying with Trump's bid putting an extremity to alleged DEI practices and policies, which prioritized hiring radical owed to their demographics alternatively than their merit for the position.

'To fulfill the Nation's committedness of equality for each Americans, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division volition investigate, eliminate, and penalize amerciable DEi and DEIA preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities successful the backstage assemblage and successful acquisition institutions that person national funds,' she vowed.

Bondi is giving her department's Civil Rights Division and Office of Legal Policy little than a period to taxable a study recommending enforcement for enforce the policies astatine the national authorities level.

She also, however, wants the study to incorporate 'recommendations for enforcing national civil-rights laws and taking different due measures to promote the backstage assemblage to extremity amerciable favoritism and preferences, including policies relating to DEI and DEIA.'

The offices person until March 1, 2025 to taxable the associated report.

In regards to affirmative enactment practices astatine university, Bondi is assuring the nationalist that acquisition institutions that students whitethorn not dainty students otherwise owed to their race.

Bondi said the DOJ volition enactment with the Department of Education to marque definite immoderate 'educational agencies, colleges, and universities that person national funds' are not engaging successful 'treat[ing] immoderate students worse than others successful portion due to the fact that of race.'

Bondi's 'weaponization' memo

The Attorney General besides sent a memo creating a 'Weaponization Working Group' successful 1 of her directives.

This 1 instantly sent a informing flare to DOJ attorneys who mightiness question to undermine Trump.

The 'zealous advocacy' directive, arsenic the DOJ calls it, demands workers 'aggressively enforc[e] transgression laws passed by Congress , but besides vigorously defending statesmanlike policies and actions connected behalf of the United States against ineligible challenges.'

It besides sets limits connected 'personal governmental views.'

The substance includes an explicit threat, stating 'any Justice Department lawyer who declines to motion a brief, refuses to beforehand good-faith arguments connected behalf of the Trump administration, oregon different delays oregon impedes the Justice Department's ngo volition beryllium taxable to subject and perchance termination.'