U.S. attorneys’ offices near the borders will be exempt from Trump’s hiring freeze. DOJ lawyers in Washington have been encouraged to accept transfers.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will hire prosecutors to bolster offices near the southern and northern borders, according to a new memorandum.
The directive is designed to boost staffing for cases involving illegal entry into the United States, drug and human trafficking, and activity by drug cartels, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche wrote in the March 6 memo to department staff, obtained by Reuters.
“Border districts have a unique role to play in these efforts,” Blanche wrote.
President Donald Trump, within hours of being sworn in on Jan. 20, ordered a federal hiring freeze. He said the order did not cover positions “related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety.”
The DOJ’s exemption will apply to U.S. attorney’s offices in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and Southern California along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to Blanche’s memo, in addition to districts in Florida. Also included are New York and Vermont offices near the border with Canada.
Illegal immigration skyrocketed at the southern and northern borders in recent years, although the number has come down under Trump, according to the Department of Homeland Security. On one recent day, just 200 immigrants were encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border, the lowest single-day apprehension number in more than 15 years.
The number of apprehensions does not cover illegal immigrants who evade federal officers.
Blanche told senators at his confirmation hearing that he has been watching the DOJ shift its focus to violent, transnational gangs, drugs, and the borders.
“If confirmed, I intend to continue the mission that was started on Jan. 20 with a clear goal—gangs, terrorists, and those who aid and harbor them will be found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.
Blanche, a former assistant U.S. attorney and one of Trump’s former defense lawyers, issued the memo one day after he was confirmed as deputy attorney general by the Senate.
