The US State Department has issued a halt to all existing foreign assistance and paused new aid, according to an internal memo sent to officials and US embassies abroad.

By Wednesday morning the Trump justice department, realigned in his image, issued a memo that threatened to prosecute state and local officials who resist his crackdown on immigration in sanctuary cities.

“Federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands,” the memo reads, adding that the U.S.

An internal memo obtained by CBS, the BBC's US partner, also shows that the State Department has cancelled all refugee processing and travel into the US.

A memo obtained through BBC's news partner CBS on Tuesday included a template email to affected employees, saying that the DEI programs "divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination".