Attorney General Pam Bondi has issued a sweeping two-page directive dismantling sanctuary city-style protections for illegal immigrants in Washington, D.C., and installing new leadership over the city’s police department.
Ending Sanctuary Policies in the Nation’s Capital
Bondi’s order — titled “Restoring Safety and Security to the District of Columbia” — rescinds any MPD directive restricting officers from fully cooperating with federal immigration enforcement.
She nullified three separate MPD orders issued over the past two years, including one signed earlier the same day by Chief Pamela Smith. That order permitted limited cooperation with ICE and CBP but prohibited officers from running immigration status checks solely for that purpose or arresting individuals solely on federal immigration warrants without other charges.
Bondi rescinded it within hours, along with a June 2024 order limiting immigration status inquiries and an October 2023 order blocking arrests on federal immigration warrants alone.
Read the full order:
DEA Chief Installed as “Emergency Police Commissioner”
Bondi also stripped Chief Smith of significant authority, naming DEA Administrator Terry Cole as MPD’s emergency police commissioner.
Cole now wields “all the powers and duties vested” in the role — including the ability to issue general and executive orders to all MPD personnel. Current MPD leadership must secure his approval before issuing their own directives.
Backed by Trump’s Federal Takeover
The move follows President Donald Trump’s Monday executive order declaring a crime emergency in D.C. and placing the MPD under temporary federal control. Since then, federal law enforcement and National Guard troops have swarmed the district.
On Wednesday night alone, 45 arrests were made during coordinated operations — 29 of them illegal immigrants.
Bondi defended the aggressive actions, writing:
“Residents of the District of Columbia, the thousands of Americans who commute into the District for work every day, and the millions of tourists from all over the world who visit our nation’s capital have a right to feel safe and to be free from the scourge of violent crime.”
