West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey warned Friday on Newsmax that Democrats are actively encouraging lawlessness by urging local officials to target federal immigration enforcement.
He called recent comments by Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., an extreme escalation in efforts to obstruct federal law.
McCuskey accused Democrat leaders Friday of deliberately undermining the rule of law by promoting resistance to federal immigration enforcement, arguing their rhetoric has crossed into open hostility toward lawful federal officers.
"It is really remarkable how far the left will go to allow people to break our laws," McCuskey said during an interview on "The Chris Salcedo Show."
He said Democrats are not merely refusing cooperation with ICE but are now encouraging confrontation. "At some point, somebody’s going to have to hold this lady accountable," he said, referring to Pelosi.
His remarks came in response to Pelosi’s recent claim that California law enforcement could "arrest federal agents if they break California law" during immigration operations — adding that if convicted, "the president cannot pardon them."
She and Rep. Kevin Mullin said local police should not hesitate to charge ICE officers operating inside the state.
McCuskey said such rhetoric feeds radical attempts to discredit immigration law itself.
He framed Pelosi’s stance as a calculated political effort to delegitimize federal enforcement to benefit those in the country illegally.
"It is so beyond the pale of what is legal and what is rational for a state government to seek to arrest a federal agent acting under color of their authority," he said.
The Trump administration formally responded Friday with a warning letter from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to Pelosi, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, state Attorney General Rob Bonta, and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
The letter condemned what Blanche called a coordinated attempt to intimidate federal agents.
"Rather than supporting and working with federal law enforcement professionals, California politicians, including U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, have instead called for state and local law enforcement officials to 'arrest' federal agents and officers for enforcing federal laws enacted by the U.S. Congress, including federal immigration laws," Blanche wrote.
The dispute comes as the Trump administration intensifies immigration enforcement nationwide and has directly accused Democratic-led states of attempting to shield violations through procedural obstruction and political prosecution.
McCuskey said the impulse to criminalize federal immigration agents reflects a broader deterioration in respect for constitutional order and federal sovereignty.
He added that Pelosi could face a reckoning come Election Day — when voters could hold her accountable.
"I'm very hopeful the voters of California do that at the ballot box here in about a year," he said.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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