Attorney General Rescinds More Memos

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on December 21, 2017 that, pursuant to Executive Order 13777 “Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda” and Sessions’ November memorandum prohibiting certain guidance documents, he is rescinding 25 such documents that he considers unnecessary, inconsistent with existing law, or otherwise improper.

These documents include the Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative Guidelines (2013), the Northern Border Prosecution Initiative Guidelines (2013), and a letter to Esmeralda Zendejas (then an attorney with California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.) on how to determine whether lawful permanent residents are protected against citizenship status discrimination (May 30, 2012).

This new memo rescission has become a trend in the current Trump Administration after General John Kelly issued memos rescinding past uses of prosecutorial discretion. Recently, the Trump Administration also rescinded the popular DACA program.