President Donald Trump has threatened to federalize the police in Washington, D.C., once more if the department does not cooperate with Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE).
Trump’s prior takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) expired last week, 30 days after it began. The President, who has touted his crackdown on crime in D.C. as a success, hadn’t previously indicated any plans to try to extend federal authority over the MPD. But on Monday, he said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser had “informed the federal government that the Metropolitan Police Department will no longer cooperate with ICE in removing and relocating illegal aliens,” and warned “crime would come roaring back” if he didn’t take action.
“To the people and businesses of Washington, D.C., DON’T WORRY, I AM WITH YOU, AND WON’T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I’ll call a National Emergency, and Federalize, if necessary!!!”
TIME has reached out to the Mayor’s office for comment. The Metropolitan Police Department declined to comment.
Trump declared a public safety emergency over crime in the nation’s capitol in August and invoked a section of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act that allowed him to take control of the MPD for up to 30 days, unless Congress opted to extend it.
Bowser issued an order ahead of the takeover’s Sept. 10 expiration date directing city officials to continue coordinating with federal law enforcement beyond the month-long timeframe. But the order did not mention ICE, and last week, the Mayor told the press that the MPD would not be facilitating immigration enforcement. “Immigration enforcement is not what the MPD does. And with the end of the emergency, it won’t be what MPD does in the future,” she said.
More than 940 immigrants have been arrested in D.C. by federal immigration agents, accounting for more than 40 percent of the arrests during Trump’s crackdown in the city, according to The Associated Press.
The crime rate in Washington, D.C. was already decreasing before the emergency declaration: The Department of Justice announced early this year that violent crime in the city was at a 30-year low. City data indicate that crime rates fell further during the federal takeover, though experts have said Trump’s strategy is unlikely to provide a lasting solution for crime in D.C.
While the federal authority over the MPD expired last week, National Guard troops that Trump also sent to D.C. are set to remain in the capital at least through the end of November. The city sued the Trump Administration earlier this month over its deployment of the National Guard, saying it is both “unwanted” and violates laws barring military involvement with local law enforcement.
Trump’s previous deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles this summer in response to protests over immigration raids in the city was ruled illegal by a federal judge. The President has threatened to send the National Guard to other major Democratic-led cities, including Chicago and Baltimore, and last week said troops would be sent to Memphis to combat crime. ICE, meanwhile, has recently launched expanded operations in Massachusetts and Chicago amid the Trump Administration’s battle with sanctuary cities.
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