BREAKING: US AG Pam Bondi orders DOJ to pause federal funding to sanctuary cities

US Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered the Department of Justice to pause all federal funding to sanctuary cities, according to a directive issued Wednesday shortly after she was sworn into office.

Bondi also instructed the DOJ to identify and assess all funding agreements with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that offer assistance to illegal immigrants, Fox News reported.

Additionally, Bondi will be overseeing the litigation efforts of the Justice Department to investigate instances in which jurisdictions are obstructing federal law enforcement's immigration efforts and ordered prosecutions to be pursued when deemed necessary.

According to data, there are roughly 220 sanctuary cities in the United States.

This comes as part of a series of directives the new Attorney General issued upon taking office. Bondi also plans to work with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to "completely eliminate" transnational criminal organizations and the cartels, which the United States officially recognizes as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) under the direction of President Donald Trump's executive order.

Another primary focus of Bondi's will be combating the weaponization of the legal system, per the directive. Trump's Attorney General said she plans to establish the "Weaponizing Working Group," which will examine all law enforcement operations throughout the previous four years in order to find examples of "politicized justice." The group's first task will review prosecutions against President Trump led by Biden's Special Counsel Jack Smith, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, according to the memo obtained by Fox News.

Bondi also detailed in a directive that the responsibilities of DOJ attorneys would include "aggressively enforcing criminal laws passed by Congress, but also vigorously defending presidential policies and actions on behalf of the United States against legal challenges."

"The discretion afforded Justice Department attorneys with respect to those responsibilities does not include latitude to substitute their personal political views or judgments for those that prevailed in the election," the memo titled "zealous advocacy" states. "When Justice Department attorneys refuse to faithfully carry out their role by, for example, refusing to advance good-faith arguments or declining to sign briefs, it undermines the constitutional order and deprives the President of the benefit of his lawyers."

Furthermore, Bondi will review cases where the previous Department of Justice declined to seek the death penalty and will revoke any DOJ regulations that are "not sufficiently in line with President Trump's death penalty executive order."


This is a breaking story. Please refresh the page for updates.