Washington, D.C., police officers will now be able to assist federal immigration authorities by sharing information about people who are not in police custody and by transporting federal immigration agents and detained individuals, according to a new order signed by Metropolitan Police Department chief Pamela Smith and published Thursday.
The order represents a shift from the Metropolitan Police Department’s previous policy, which limited cooperation between the department and federal immigration authorities. D.C. law still prohibits local law enforcement in the nation’s capital from sharing information about people being held in D.C. custody with immigration officers.
Smith’s order does not alter the current D.C. policy barring police officers from searching databases solely to check someone’s immigration status. District of Columbia police also may not arrest people whose only crime is being in the U.S. illegally. The Sanctuary Values Amendment Act passed in 2020 gave MPD independent authority from immigration officials.
The city’s status as a so-called “sanctuary city,” which limits local cooperation with federal immigration agents, has come into question with the policy change. A push by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to repeal the sanctuary city status in a 2026 budget bill was voted down by D.C. Council in June.
There have been over 140 arrests by law enforcement since Aug. 7, when the Trump administration first moved federal police assets into the city, according to the White House and FBI. FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X that at least 29 arrests made on Wednesday were “immigration-related.”
CBS News has reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department and Bowser’s office for comment.
On Monday, President Trump announced he was officially enforcing Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973 and placing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department “under direct federal control.” Under the act, the D.C. mayor must provide the president with the MPD’s services “as the President may deem necessary and appropriate” for 48 hours, and up to 30 days. If the president wants a lengthier extension, Congress must pass a joint resolution.
Mr. Trump said Attorney General Pam Bondi would take control of the department immediately, under a public safety emergency. A White House official later said the arrangement is expected to last 30 days.
As of Tuesday, nearly 1,500 federal law enforcement officers and National Guard members patrolled Washington, according to a White House official. Included among them are federal law enforcement officers are agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Patrol, United States Secret Service, and U.S. Marshalls.
Eight hundred National Guard members have been dispatched throughout the District, a defense official said, and their around-the-clock mission to assist federal and local law enforcement deployed by Mr. Trump started Thursday morning.
contributed to this report.
