US attorney general orders crackdown on violence targeting border agency

WASHINGTON

US Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a directive Monday to federal law enforcement agencies aimed at ending violence against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

In a memorandum addressed to the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), US Marshals Service and the and Executive Office of US Attorneys, Bondi cited a sharp spike in attacks, specifically in the cities of Los Angeles and Portland, amounting to a more than a 1,000% increase since Jan. 21, compared to the same period last year.

The memo instructs Department of Justice components to direct officers and agents to defend ICE facilities, specifically in Portland and Chicago, to add local law enforcement entities to a temporary ICE Protection Task Force, and provide grant funding, training and technical assistance to support federal, state and local law enforcement protecting ICE.

Also, the Department of Justice will “arrest and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law every person who aids, abets, or conspires to commit” crimes against ICE – including through “funding, coordination, or planning.”