A memo asserts that state and local officials are bound to cooperate and could face criminal prosecution or civil penalties if they fail to comply.

The Justice Department has ordered federal prosecutors to investigate state or local officials who they believe are interfering with the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, saying they could face criminal charges, in an apparent warning to the dozens of so-called sanctuary jurisdictions across America.

U.S. attorneys’ offices were told to investigate any official who defies federal immigration enforcement efforts and consider prosecuting them.

State and local leaders across the country are bracing for a tidal wave of aggressive immigration policies and possible mass deportations that President Donald Trump has vowed to enact in the hours and days following his inauguration Monday.

President Donald Trump's administration has directed U.S. prosecutors to criminally probe state and local officials who resist immigration enforcement efforts, intensifying a sweeping crackdown that Trump launched the day he took office.

In line with Trump’s edict, CNN’s Natasha Bertrand, Priscilla Alvarez, Haley Britzky and Oren Liebermann report. They’re expected to beef up existing operations to support Customs and Border Protection,

President Donald Trump's administration has directed U.S. prosecutors to criminally probe local officials who resist immigration enforcement efforts, intensifying a sweeping crackdown that Trump launched the day he took office.

The directives to Justice Department employees could face fierce blowback from legal advocacy groups and officials in cities and states led by Democrats.

Justice Department career officials were reassigned to advance Donald Trump's immigration agenda, an official familiar with the matter told USA TODAY.