Presidential orders and ramnped up federal immigration enforcement have placed state and local officials in uncharted territory. (Department of Homeland Security photo)
In the first week of his second term, President Donald Trump rescinded a 2011 policy prohibiting immigration enforcement in ‘sensitive’ places such as schools, churches, and hospitals; expanded authority for ‘expedited removal’, allowing the immediate deportation of those unable to prove they’ve been in the U.S. for two years; and issued a directive to the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute local officials who fail to assist with mass deportations.
“Some of the executive orders and actions that have been taken are concrete and will matter in individual cases, and some of them are just bluster,” says Prof. Michael Kagan, director of UNLV’s Immigration Clinic.
Kagan says he’s not surprised by the expansion of authority to expedite removal of some immigrants, a “highly discriminatory” practice he previously said would “likely target people who look Latino and who might not speak English perfectly or might fit someone’s image of what an undocumented immigrant looks like, but it might be a U.S. citizen.”
Americans overwhelmingly support the deportation of immigrants who are in the country illegally and have criminal records, according to an Axion/Ipsos poll of 1,025 adults earlier this month.
However, deporting undocumented immigrants who are not on the wrong side of the law could sway public opinion, says Kagan.
Trump’s executive order eliminating the prohibition on enforcement actions in schools, hospitals, and churches “was in Project 2025,” Kagan says of the right-wing manifesto of which Trump claimed ignorance during his 2024 presidential campaign. “So that doesn’t surprise me.”
But the order threatening local officials with prosecution “probably falls into the bluster category. That doesn’t mean it won’t have an effect, because some local officials might be scared off,” Kagan said.
“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands,” Emil Bove III, the DOJ’s acting deputy attorney general and a former member of the president’s criminal defense team, wrote in the memo, which was first reported by Bloomberg Law.
The DOJ “shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution,” Bove wrote.
“It’s very unclear,” Kagan said. “Prosecuted for what?”
The memo does not specify what actions local officials might take — or not take — that would justify such a prosecution.
The reign of ambivalence
“Starting with the sheriff, we are not going to bend over backwards to help or to hurt any of our residents,” Clark County Commission Chairman Tick Segerblom told the Current last week.
Segerblom’s statement illustrates the limbo in which local officials find themselves, with few defenses available to protect residents, should they so desire.
“We don’t ask for immigration status anywhere in the county,” Segerblom said, adding anyone, regardless of status, can use county facilities. “If you want to use our recreation facilities, go ahead. No one’s going to ask about your status.”
Segerblom is holding a ‘know your rights’ town hall Wednesday evening with the ACLU Nevada, the Latino Legislative Caucus, UNLV’s Immigration Clinic, and the consulates of Mexico and El Salvador.
“As elected officials, we are sworn to uphold the laws of our nation and our state,” Henderson Mayor Michelle Romero and the City Council said in a statement. “We have and will continue to be faithful to that duty and will seek to serve the needs of our residents, businesses, and visitors within those parameters.”
In other words, official hands are officially tied – at least for the most part.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department says it will not assist Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in rounding up undocumented immigrants.
“That’s not my job,” Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill told KLAS-TV last week.
Police in Reno and Washoe County similarly say they’ll decline to assist with deportation efforts.
LVMPD did not respond to requests for comment on whether McMahill is concerned about running afoul of the DOJ as a result. Police say they will notify the federal government of undocumented individuals in custody for certain crimes, such as domestic violence and driving under the influence.
“I do not think the Department of Justice should be weaponized to go after people that disagree with the president and I am concerned that local and state officials might be ensnared,” Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley, a former Democratic member of the House of Representatives, said via text, noting she is speaking for herself and not the city council.
“Nobody is above the law,” Berkley’s Republican opponent in last year’s mayoral race, Las Vegas City Councilwoman Victoria Seaman said. “If elected officials choose to obstruct immigration policy and undermine our nation’s laws, then they should be held accountable.”
Nevada’s chief law enforcement officer, Attorney General Aaron Ford, wants to ensure Nevadans know their rights and he’s set up a hotline to report hate crimes in a political and cultural environment that has become even more heated about immigration since Trump’s inauguration.
Last week, Ford joined Attorneys General in 21 other states in legal challenges to the Trump administration’s executive order eliminating birthright citizenship. “No comment,” Ford’s office replied when asked if the AG is concerned the challenge may provoke retaliation by the DOJ.
In his 2022 campaign for governor, then-Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo touted his history of cooperating with ICE among his law enforcement bona fides.
Lombardo says ‘an exorbitant amount of time’ required before mass deportations could happen
As governor of a state with the largest percentage of undocumented workers per capita in the U.S., Lombardo is riding the fence on deportation.
He declined in November to say whether he’d mobilize the National Guard to support the effort, declared in early December it was “too soon to opine” on using the Guard, but days later pledged full support. Then earlier this month, Lombardo said mass deportations are “not what I believe is an appropriate policy.”
Lombardo did not respond when asked about Trump’s threat to prosecute local officials.
Some 9,000 public school students in Nevada under the age of 18 are undocumented, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Public schools in the United States are required by law to provide all students with an education, regardless of their immigration status.
The Clark County School District, in an email last week, directed staff to contact school police in the event “any law enforcement officer or government agent” appears at a school. CCSD police “are not responsible for and do not enforce federal civil immigration laws.”
The Washoe County School District is “deeply committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment where all students, regardless of their background or immigration status, feel welcome, supported, and valued,” the district said in a statement.
While local officials have little authority to fend off federal immigration enforcement, privacy laws give schools and universities some ability to shelter the identity of their students.
Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), schools and universities are prohibited from disclosing contact information for students who opt out of directories.
Families with a student in Clark or Washoe County can execute a preparedness plan for any emergency, including deportation, as well as a designation of a temporary guardian in the event a caregiver is deported.
An estimated 168,000 undocumented immigrants live in Nevada. A little more than a third live with a child who is a U.S. citizen, and about 7% live with a child who is not a citizen.
Washoe County, according to a spokeswoman, is establishing an emergency shelter for children left behind in the event a parent or guardian is deported.
The University of Nevada, Reno and the University of Nevada Las Vegas have resources available for undocumented students.
Ace in the hole?
Nevada’s undocumented residents, according to Pew Research, make up almost 10% of the state’s workforce, the largest percentage per capita in the nation.
The term ‘sanctuary city’ often describes jurisdictions with law enforcement agencies that refuse to some degree to cooperate with ICE. While there is no standard definition, it can also refer to jurisdictions that adopt policies intended to forge trust between large communities of undocumented immigrants and authorities.
In that sense, if not the one Republicans usually mean when they use the phrase to score political points, Nevada is a sanctuary state, evidenced by its significant but silent reliance on undocumented immigrant labor, and immigrant-friendly policies such as granting driving privileges in 2013 to undocumented residents.
Trump’s deportation efforts are concentrated on blue states, thus far. Nevada, which voted for Trump for the first time last year, remains purple, with a Republican governor, a Democratic majority in the Legislature, and five of six congressional seats held by Democrats.
Some of the executive orders and actions that have been taken are concrete and will matter in individual cases, and some of them are just bluster.
– Michael Kagan, UNLV Immigration Law Clinic
Whether Trump’s deportation wrath befalls Nevada’s undocumented residents remains to be seen. Some political experts, such as Segerblom, suggest Trump will spare the state, and in the process spare Lombardo, who faces re-election in 2026, the political fallout of having to make tough decisions.
Kagan says he’s heard the speculation, says it’s too early to make a prediction, but offers two “plausible” scenarios.
“Story A: Nevada will get a pass because Trump wants to not only help Lombardo be re-elected, but because mass deportation in Nevada would hurt the resort industry, which includes Trump himself and many of his friends,” he says. “Story B is Nevada will not get a pass, we will see a massive increase in deportations here because we have a lot of immigrants and because ICE is unrestrained. Why would we get a pass?”
Trump is leveraging his plans with threats to stem federal funding to cities that do not cooperate with his immigration plans.
Segerblom says he’s not concerned the president would derail funds headed to Nevada.
“This is his base. We have 450,000 residents of Mexican descent,” the Democrat said. “I just don’t think Trump is that stupid.”