On February 5, 2025, the Attorney General at the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a memo that broadly outlines the department’s general policy on how DOJ will pursue charges, do plea negotiations, how it will recommend sentences, and its investigative and charging priorities. While broad, the memo includes language about immigration enforcement priorities. In the “Investigative and Charging Priorities” section, the memo orders that DOJ “shall use all available criminal statutes to combat the flood of illegal immigration that took place over the last four years, and to continue to support the Department of Homeland Security’s immigration and removal initiatives,” and further states that “U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the other Department components shall pursue charges relating to criminal immigration-related violations when such violations are presented by federal, state, or local law enforcement or the Intelligence Community.” 

While the memo directs DOJ to pursue all charges on immigration, a handful of statutory sections are specified for DOJ to pursue:  

• Registration and fingerprinting for migrants, and penalties (8 U.S.C. §§ 1304, 1306)  

• Harboring; unlawful employment; document fraud; improper entry and reentry; and others (8 U.S.C. §§ 1324-1328)  

• Communication between state and local jurisdictions and immigration enforcement (targeting sanctuary jurisdictions) (8 U.S.C. §1373)  

• General provision on being unlawfully in the United States (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5))