In an effort to eradicate violent crime, President Donald Trump is preparing to ask Congress to extend the 30-day limit on his federal takeover of Washington, D.C. When asked by a reporter Thursday if he intends to seek congressional approval to prolong his federalization of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the president replied, “If it’s a national emergency, we can do it without Congress. But we expect to be before Congress very quickly.” He added that “Democrats will not do anything to stop crime, but we think the Republicans will do it almost unanimously,” noting that his administration will request a crime bill to extend its control over D.C. law enforcement.

The president began moving federal law enforcement agents — including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); and even Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — into D.C. late last week, following the vicious beating of a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer who intervened in a carjacking to protect the female victim. On August 11, he officially took federal control of the MPD and quickly mobilized the D.C. National Guard. Between August 7 and the morning of August 13, the federal crackdown yielded 103 arrests on charges ranging from suspected homicide and narcotics to firearm offenses and even illegal immigration.

Border czar and former ICE chief Tom Homan pledged on Wednesday, “D.C. under federal control is not going to be a sanctuary city.” He continued, “We’re working with the police hand in hand, and when we encounter a criminal, illegal alien, they will be turned over to ICE, and that’s the way it should be.” The border czar added, “The illegal alien criminal threat in D.C. is not going to be protected. There’s no sanctuary for these people in the city of D.C.”

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons also took a swipe at D.C.’s previous “sanctuary” policies shielding illegal immigrants. He reported that ICE is “working our criminal illegal alien mission. We’re looking at everything in the full ICE portfolio as well as worksite human trafficking, illegal aliens being released from other jurisdictions, especially D.C., where the MPD doesn’t work with ICE.” He added, “It’s a great effort right now that the president’s doing.”

In comments to The Washington Stand, Jessica Vaughan, director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, explained that “sanctuary” policies like D.C.’s facilitate higher crime rates. “There is considerable evidence that sanctuary policies are a magnet to criminals and especially criminal groups like gangs or drug trafficking organizations. Where these groups set up, then violence inevitably follows,” Vaughan said. She continued, “Obviously, not all of the criminals causing problems are aliens, but a significant share of them are. We know that some of the gangs, some of the drug trafficking, and some of the violence can be attributed to illegal alien criminals.” Vaughan added, “We also know that a disproportionate share of violent crime everywhere is attributable to a small number of people, often involving gangs.”

“If these key players are aliens, then ICE is the best agency to address that problem, because they can send them home instead of back to the community, and that’s why it’s important to have them play a role in the effort to make Washington safe again,” Vaughan observed. She further noted, “Washington also has laws and prosecution policies that are very lenient, which makes matters worse, because when the non-citizens are not arrested or prosecuted or penalized, then there is no system to funnel them to ICE for removal, but that is a different problem.”

As ICE agents join hundreds of uniformed MPD officers and National Guardsmen in patrolling the streets, protests have sprung up in response to the federal crackdown. MPD and Homeland Security agents set up a checkpoint on 14th Street N.W. Wednesday night and were met by a small crowd chanting, “Get off our streets!” Some protestors diverted traffic, warning drivers that ICE agents were present and to “turn left” to avoid the checkpoint. TWS previously reported that activist organizations, often funded by left-wing “dark money” networks, have been seeking paid protestors in D.C. following the president’s federal takeover.