Justice Department issues memo threatening to prosecute officials who resist immigration crackdown

From CNN's Hannah Rabinowitz, Evan Perez and Holmes Lybrand

A new Justice Department memo outlines the Trump administration’s plans to challenge sanctuary city laws by threatening to prosecute state and local officials who resist the federal immigration crackdown, according to a copy of the document obtained by CNN.

The memo from acting Deputy Attorney General Emile Bove also says that federal prosecutors who decline to prosecute those immigration cases will be reported immediately the Justice Department for investigation and potential prosecution.

The three-page directive shows how the Trump team has spent weeks trying to craft memos that they hope have a better chance of withstanding legal challenges.

“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests,” the memo reads. “The U.S. Attorney’s Offices and litigating components of the Department of Justice shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution.”

The memo instructs the department’s civil division to help identify state and local laws and policies that “threaten to impede” Trump’s immigration initiatives and to challenge those laws in court.

Bove’s memo calls the changes interim policy guidance while the department awaits the confirmation of Pamela Bondi as attorney general.