Original Date Announced

Section 3(c)(i)-(ii) of Executive Order 14252, "Making the District of Columbia Beautiful Again," directs a newly created "D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force" to ensure maximum enforcement of federal immigration law by "redirecting available Federal, State, or local law enforcement resources to apprehend and deport illegal aliens in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area." It also directs the Task Force to "monitor" the District of Columbia’s sanctuary-city status and its compliance with immigration enforcement.

Trump 2.0 [ID #1652]

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.08.14 Reported: Bondi Tightens Trump Administration’s Grip on D.C. Police - The New York Times

The New York Times reports that Attorney General Pam Bondi has rescinded D.C. policies preventing the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) from assisting with federal immigration-enforcement efforts, and invested Drug Enforcement Administration administrator Terry Cole with "all the powers and duties" of the D.C. police chief as "emergency police commissioner." The D.C. police, including its chief, "must now receive approval from Mr. Cole before issuing any directive." The Bondi directive, posted here, also "declar[ed] invalid [sanctuary-]city regulations dating to 2024 and 2023."

Reportedly, D.C. attorney general Brian Schwalb advised Mayor Muriel Bowser that the U.S. Attorney General's directive was "unlawful" and that the mayor was "not legally obligated to follow it." In an advisory letter, he stated that Congress's 1973 Home Rule Act does not authorize the President to "'alter the chain of command,' to rescind or suspend orders or to 'otherwise determine how the District pursues purely local law enforcement.'"

For the District of Columbia's lawsuit challenging the federal seizure of MPD, please see this entry.

Subsequent Trump and Court Action

2025.09.04 Complaint - District of Columbia v. Trump

The District of Columbia filed a lawsuit to challenge the administration's National Guard deployment. President Trump first ordered the Secretary of Defense to deploy Guard troops in the District on August 11, and further issued an executive order on August 25 requiring the Secretary to “immediately create and begin training, manning, hiring, and equipping a specialized unit within the District of Columbia National Guard . . . that is dedicated to ensuring public safety and order in the Nation’s capital.”

The complaint alleges that the Trump administration's actions violate the Constitution's separation of powers doctrine, Take Care Clause, and District Clause, and also statutes like the Home Rule Act, Assistance Compact, and Posse Comitatus Act that vest executive power in the District's mayor and limit the President's authority to use the Guard for law enforcement. The District asks the court to declare these actions unlawful and enjoin further Guard deployment in the District. District of Columbia v. Trump, No. 1:25-cv-03005 (D.D.C.).

**Link to case here. Our litigation entries generally report only the initial complaint and any major substantive filings or decisions. For additional information, CourtListener provides access to PACER and all available pleadings. Other sites that track litigation in more detail or organize cases by topic include Civil Rights Clearinghouse, Justice Action Center, National Immigration Litigation Alliance, and Just Security**