Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday issued an order wiping out Washington, D.C,. police policies that protected illegal immigrants, and she named a temporary leader for the district’s Metropolitan Police Department.
Bondi’s actions follow an order from President Donald Trump declaring a crime emergency in D.C. and putting its police under federal control.
However, the attorney general for D.C.’s government is pushing back on Bondi’s directive in court.
🚨 .@AGPamBondi has ordered an END to dangerous sanctuary policies in Washington, DC ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/JpdfmPtdTR
— Chad Gilmartin (@ChadGilmartinCA) August 15, 2025
Bondi’s order removed Metro Police Chief Pamela Smith from running the department and named Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terry Cole MPDs “emergency police commissioner,” according to Fox News.
Bondi’s order gives Cole the power to issue orders and says any existing officials in the police department must get his approval before issuing orders.
Bondi also specifically rescinded three orders that have limited local police collaboration with immigration officials. D.C. has considered itself a sanctuary city where illegal immigrants are protected from immigration authorities.
DC’s sanctuary policies no longer apply: we are making our nation’s capital safe again.
At President Trump’s direction, our agents are carrying out arrests across DC and shutting down violent crime. pic.twitter.com/Cw6NKyZlc0
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) August 15, 2025
Should the sanctuary policies of all major cities be revoked?
One rescinded order said that MPD officers “shall not arrest individuals based solely on federal immigration warrants or detainers as long as there is no additional criminal warrant or underlying offense for which the individual is subject to arrest.”
Bondi also rescinded a June 2024 order that limited inquiries into an individual’s immigration status and an October 2023 banning arrests for federal immigration warrants.
Lest there be confusion over whom to obey, Bondi wrote in her order, “To the extent that provisions in this order conflict with any existing MPD directives, those directives are hereby rescinded.”
“Residents of the District of Columbia, the thousands of Americans who commute into the District for work every day, and the millions of tourists from all over the world who visit our nation’s capital have a right to feel safe and to be free from the scourge of violent crime,” Bondi wrote.
However, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has said Cole’s appointment is “unlawful,” according to Axios.
Mayor Muriel Bowser posted the city’s defiance on X.
Let us be clear about what the law requires during a Presidential declared emergency: it requires the mayor of Washington, DC to provide the services of the Metropolitan Police Department for federal purposes at the request of the President.
We have followed the law.
In… pic.twitter.com/XfaNqLalFU
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) August 15, 2025
D.C. council member Christina Henderson also pushed back, saying, “Respectfully, the Attorney General does not have the authority to revoke laws.”
The dispute is likely to be resolved in court, with the D.C. attorney general filing a lawsuit to stop what he termed a “hostile takeover” of the police, according to The Washington Post.
“By declaring a hostile takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its limited, temporary authority under the Home Rule Act, infringing on the District’s right to self-governance and putting the safety of DC residents and visitors at risk,” Schwalb said in a statement. “The Administration’s unlawful actions are an affront to the dignity and autonomy of the 700,000 Americans who call DC home. This is the gravest threat to Home Rule that the District has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.”
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