On Monday, September 15th, President Donald Trump threatened to declare a national emergency and federalize Washington, D.C., if the city’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) does not resume cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The warning comes after D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser indicated that local police would no longer assist federal immigration enforcement following the expiration of Trump’s 30-day emergency authority.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump highlighted his previous federal intervention in Washington, D.C., claiming it had transformed the city. He criticized Mayor Bowser for ending cooperation with ICE, writing that she “has informed the Federal Government that the Metropolitan Police Department will no longer cooperate with ICE in removing and relocating dangerous illegal aliens.”
Trump added that a lack of cooperation could trigger a resurgence of crime in the city. “To the people and businesses of Washington, D.C., DON’T WORRY, I AM WITH YOU, AND WON’T ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN. I’ll call a National Emergency, and Federalize, if necessary!!!” he stated.
The president’s threat comes after his 30-day takeover of the MPD under the Home Rule Act, during which federal agents, National Guard troops, and other law enforcement patrolled the city. The administration credited the operation with more than 2,300 arrests, approximately 40% of which were related to immigration, and cited a drop in crime and a boost to local businesses as justification.
Mayor Bowser emphasized that the MPD will return to normal operations. “Immigration enforcement is not what MPD does. And with the end of the emergency, it won’t be what MPD does in the future,” she explained, while clarifying that local police will no longer assist ICE with arrests or detainee transport, even as her office supports a federal law enforcement presence in the city.
Congress did not extend Trump’s emergency authority, with Republican leaders noting the city had cooperated and no formal request was made to continue the takeover. Bowser had earlier issued an executive order creating an “emergency operations center” to coordinate with federal agencies on violent crime, while excluding immigration enforcement from MPD duties.
