The Department of Justice issued a warning Thursday to top California officials after Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said San Francisco police could arrest federal immigration agents if they were found violating state law during immigration operations.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said any attempt by state or local officials to detain federal officers would be “illegal and futile,” directing Pelosi and other officials to preserve records related to efforts to obstruct law enforcement. “California politicians want to arrest federal agents for enforcing federal law,” Blanche wrote on X. “We just sent them a letter: Stand down or face prosecution.”
California politicians want to arrest federal agents for enforcing federal law.
We just sent them a letter: Stand down or face prosecution.
No one threatens our agents. No one will stop us from Making America Safe Again. pic.twitter.com/xe0EK8QssO— Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) October 23, 2025
The letter, sent to Pelosi, Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-California, Attorney General Rob Bonta, D-California, and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, D-California, warned that interfering with federal agents performing duties authorized by Congress would constitute a criminal act. “No one threatens our agents,” Blanche said. “No one will stop us from making America safe again.”
Pelosi had released a statement earlier in the week condemning what she called “planned mass immigration raids” in San Francisco, denouncing them as an “abuse of law enforcement power.” The statement warned that “our state and local authorities may arrest federal agents if they break California law—and if they are convicted, the President cannot pardon them.”
District Attorney Jenkins reportedly told The New York Times she had discussed a strategy with San Francisco police to review body-camera footage of federal encounters and seek warrants if excessive force was alleged. Jenkins said she believed the department had agreed to the plan.
Blanche’s letter accused California Democrats of attempting to obstruct federal law enforcement and urged them to abandon what he called “an apparent criminal conspiracy.” He stated that federal officers will continue to operate in California regardless of political threats. “Federal agents and officers will continue to enforce federal law and will not be deterred by the threat of arrest by California authorities who have abdicated their duty to protect their constituents,” the letter said.
The Department of Homeland Security reported earlier this year that assaults against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have risen by more than 1,000 percent amid ongoing operations nationwide. Homeland Security officials said threats from political leaders further endanger agents conducting lawful missions.
The dispute follows the passage of a new California law, signed by Newsom in September, that bans federal agents from wearing face coverings during operations — a measure federal officials say was designed to expose their identities. The Department of Justice said it does not plan to comply, citing agent safety and prior cases of doxxing and harassment.
In a Friday interview with Fox News, Blanche said California’s posture “does nothing but harm this country,” warning that touching or detaining federal officers would be prosecuted. “You cannot touch federal agents when they’re doing their jobs,” he said.
President Donald Trump said Thursday he would delay a planned deployment of additional federal immigration agents to San Francisco after a conversation with Mayor Daniel Lurie. Trump said he agreed to give city officials “one more chance” to address violent crime and immigration issues locally but maintained that the federal government “is fully prepared to act if necessary.”
