Ice Threatens Sanctuary City Mayors If They Do Not Comply With Subpoenas

Denver and New York City officials are on thin ice with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week as a result of their widely publicized unwillingness to comply with federal immigration law.

According to the Washington Examiner, acting ICE Director Matt Albence told reporters Thursday in Washington that local officials who refuse to cooperate, releasing criminal illegal immigrants back into the population rather than handing them or their personal information over to the agency, should be prepared to “show up to court with a toothbrush.”

The agency is now willing to use its full authority under the U.S. legal code to prevent so-called “sanctuary city” policies from hindering immigration enforcement, even if that means having the officials responsible for those policies jailed.

“We expect them to comply” with subpoenas, Albence said. “If they don’t comply, we’ll be working with [the Department of Justice] to go to district court to force them to comply with the requirements.”

“The individuals that fail to comply can be held in contempt,” Albence continued. “They can show up to court with a toothbrush because they might not be going home that night. Because they could be jailed for failure to comply with a lawful order from a judge.”

“That’s the route we’re going,” the ICE chief added.

Accused Murderer of Iryna Zarutska Found Incompetent to Stand Trial by Federal Examiners

Breaking: Dept. of War Releases Long-Awaited UFO Files – Photos from the Moon, Apollo Mission Audio Included

Tim Walz Minnesota forcing teachers to abide by ‘horribly disgusting,’ ‘crazy’ race standard, says lawmaker

GOP candidate Bianco’s two-word jab at Katie Porter draws gasps from California debate audience

Trump warns Iran what will happen if deal is not reached to end war and more top headlines

Is Cuba next on Trump’s regime-change agenda

House Democrats eye four GOP-held Pennsylvania seats in majority quest

Charlie Kirk assassination suspect’s defense playing long game for possible death row appeal: legal expert

Watch: Startling Megyn Kelly Comments – Is She Getting Friendly With Islam Too?

Man against machine: Stories from Ukraine’s Donbas front line

Ex-Reality TV Star Exposes LA Mayor Over Wildfire Disaster to Her Face Mid-Debate

US intel community agreed before war ‘Iran wasn’t developing a nuclear weapon’: ex-counterterrorism chief

California county finds nearly 600 unopened ballots months after Newsom-backed redistricting measure passed

Trump motorcade drives across Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to inspect renovation efforts

Trump praises Susie Wiles’ cancer fight in surprise gala video: ‘Winning it decisively’

Going to court, however, is not ICE’s preferred route. Instead, Albence told reporters, it is a “last resort.”

“Hopefully, when some of these other jurisdictions that don’t want to cooperate see that we’re taking this seriously, maybe they’ll come around and try to help us help their own communities,” he said.

Under President Donald Trump, the agency has repeatedly sought cooperation with sanctuary cities, counties and states, reaching out when illegal immigrants are arrested for crimes and requesting that the alleged perpetrators be held until they can be transferred into ICE custody for federal processing.

This decades-old process has been ignored and undermined nationwide.

In locations that endorse such policies, compliance with ICE is no longer the norm.

And there have been numerous cases of alleged criminal immigrants being released back into the general public following arraignment or a decision not to prosecute, as is typical in many criminal cases involving U.S. citizens.

In such cases, federal subpoenas requiring local officials to hand over the personal information regarding the alleged perpetrators is ICE’s last best hope of investigating and apprehending the illegal immigrant in question.