Here's what a new executive order by the Metropolitan Police Department's chief says.
NBC Universal, Inc.D.C.’s police chief issued an executive order authorizing officers to share information with ICE about subjects who aren’t in custody. News4’s Mark Segraves reports on what seems to be a significant shift in how police are cooperating with immigration enforcement.
D.C. police are now allowed to notify federal immigration enforcement agencies of people who are not in custody, including during traffic stops, the chief of police said in an executive order Thursday. It comes four days into President Donald Trump’s takeover of the city’s police department.
This seems to be a significant shift in how police are cooperating with immigration enforcement.
A memo from Chief of Police Pamela Smith says members of the Metropolitan Police Department may assist with “sharing information about persons not in MPD custody” and “providing transportation for federal immigration agency employees and detained subjects.”
The order says members “shall not make any inquiry through any database solely for the purpose of inquiring about an individual’s immigration status.”
Border czar Tom Homan said on Fox News on Wednesday night that “D.C. under federal control is not gonna be a sanctuary city.”
“We’re working with the police hand in hand. When we encounter a criminal, illegal alien, they’re gonna be turned over to ICE, and that’s the way it should be,” he said. "I mean, I’m not saying every illegal alien in D.C. is a criminal, but many are. So, these are people we’re going to focus on. Illegal alien criminal safety threat in D.C. is not going to be protected. There’s no sanctuary for these people in the city of D.C."
A person stopped by D.C. officers ended up in ICE custody on Tuesday after being picked up by officers in the 1st District for driving without a license, law enforcement sources told News4 in a story we reported Wednesday.
On Wednesday night, dozens of D.C. officers and federal officers, including ICE agents, set up a checkpoint on 14th Street NW, stopping cars and asking drivers about their immigration status. An MPD spokesman told News4 it was a “traffic safety compliance checkpoint.”
Protesters and hecklers shouted “Get off our streets!” and “Go home fascists!”
The big question that remains unanswered is: Who gave the orders? Were these directives from the White House as part of the police department takeover, or was this an initiative of the Mayor Muriel Bowser administration?
Neither D.C. police nor the mayor’s office responded to inquiries. Earlier this week, Bowser said Smith is making decisions about MPD deployment and policies.
Bowser left D.C. for a trip to Martha’s Vineyard on Wednesday, sources told News4. A spokesperson said the mayor has a family obligation, had to pick up her daughter and will return on Friday.

DC police now allowed to notify ICE of people not in custody, police chief says
D.C. police are now allowed to notify federal immigration enforcement agencies of people who are not in custody, the chief of police said in an executive order Thursday.
