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As the federal takeover of D.C.’s police force is scheduled to end at midnight, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a swift return to local control — and a decisive break from immigration enforcement efforts that marked the 30-day “crime emergency” declared by President Donald Trump.
That means one major change: The police department will stop working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Immigration enforcement is not what MPD does,” Bowser said Wednesday morning. “And with the end of the emergency, it won’t be what MPD does in the future.”
Trump invoked emergency powers back on Aug. 11 to temporarily federalize the city’s police force for 30 days. During that time, D.C. police officers were ordered to support federal needs — including immigration enforcement.
The White House has touted the federal surge as “very successful,” reporting a total of 2,310 arrests in D.C., which included 20 gang members, and 225 firearms seized.
More than 940 people were arrested for immigration-related offenses during the federal surge, according to an analysis from The Associated Press. Those immigration arrests made up for 40% of the total arrests during the 30-day declaration.
Police Chief Pamela Smith signed an executive order allowing limited cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, something the department hadn’t done before. But that order is only valid through the end of the emergency declaration, which is ended Wednesday.
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Bowser stressed the federal presence in the District won’t vanish overnight. National Guard troops will remain on duty in the city at least through late November.
“My sense is that people will get weary,” Bowser said when asked about how she thinks Americans view the surge. “Guardsmen, the states, where people have left — they will get weary, and they will want to know that they are serving their mission.”
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