DOJ asks San Francisco sheriff for list of undocumented immigrants in jail

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday requested that the San Francisco sheriff voluntarily provide a list of all inmates who are not citizens of the United States.

The Justice Department said it is seeking a list of jailed undocumented immigrants, their crimes of arrest or conviction and their scheduled release dates.

If the information is not voluntarily provided by California sheriffs, the DOJ said it will “pursue all available means of obtaining the data,” such as subpoenas.

“Today’s data requests are designed to assist federal immigration authorities in prioritizing the removal of illegal aliens who committed crimes after illegally entering the United States,” the DOJ wrote in a news release Thursday.

The requests were also issued to sheriffs of other major California counties, including Los Angeles County, according to the Justice Department. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is in San Francisco on Thursday, said in the release that removing undocumented immigrants from the United States is the Trump administration’s highest priority.