Trump administration sues Washtenaw County over immigration enforcement

The Trump administration has sued local officials in Washtenaw County, Michigan, accusing them of obstructing federal immigration enforcement operations. 

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. It names Washtenaw County Sheriff Alysia M. Dyer, Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit, and the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners as defendants. Savit is running as a Democrat for Michigan Attorney General. 

The 53-page lawsuit challenges a Washtenaw County resolution restricting federal agents from entering county-owned buildings, and seeks to declare it invalid. That resolution, passed on Jan. 21, opposes the use of masks or face coverings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents working in the area. It also states that ICE officers need a "valid judicial warrant or court order" to be on county-owned property. 

"Washtenaw County's policies aim to obstruct federal law enforcement and celebrate thwarting the constitutional obligation of the President of the United States to take care that federal immigration law be faithfully executed," the lawsuit states. 

The administration claims that the Washtenaw County sheriff's office, prosecutor and board of commissioners each have "taken steps to shield illegal aliens from the reach of federal enforcement."  

Those actions include prohibiting county employees from sharing immigration information with federal immigration authorities, along with barring federal immigration law enforcement from Washtenaw County properties "unless the federal agents have court-approved judicial warrant to be there." 

Less than a month after Washtenaw County approved the resolution, the city of Ann Arbor passed its own policy prohibiting ICE agents from entering or using non-public areas in city facilities without a judicial warrant.    

CBS News Detroit has reached out to the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office and is awaiting a response. The Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners has declined to comment on the lawsuit. The White House replied Friday afternoon by referring the newsroom to the Department of Justice, and CBS News Detroit has reached out to that agency.

The Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office is expected to provide a statement later Friday.