After the Trump administration placed Nevada on a list of sanctuary jurisdictions this summer without stating a clear rationale, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo’s office provided the Department of Justice (DOJ) with a detailed “immigration policy timeline” that would later play a key role in the state’s removal from that list. 

Now, via a public records request, The Indy has received a full copy of the timeline. It details actions that the Lombardo administration has taken since 2023 to align with President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration agenda, including ones that the governor had not proactively announced including encouraging police in the state partnership with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

A month after sending the timeline to the DOJ, the state would sign an agreement with the DOJ agreeing to collaborate on immigration enforcement.

“The purpose of the agreement is to memorialize Governor Lombardo’s efforts to ensure that Nevada policies are consistent with federal immigration enforcement,” the governor’s office said in a statement shortly after signing the agreement.

Information and actions detailed in the timeline faced scorn from progressives and the state’s immigrant community, especially as ICE arrests are on the rise in Nevada. Assm. Cecelia Gonzalez (D-Las Vegas), the chair of the Nevada Latino Legislative Caucus, criticized Lombardo’s approach to immigration and said the governor has had minimal conversations with the caucus. 

“Lombardo cares more about appeasing President Donald Trump than he does about protecting the constituents that voted him in that office,” Gonzalez told The Indy in an interview. 

One of the actions highlighted in the timeline that was not previously publicized was how the Governor’s Office for New Americans (ONA) had cut ties with certain organizations under Lombardo, including those offering services for undocumented people. The DOJ had said having an Immigrant Community Affairs Office was a qualifying characteristic to be listed as a sanctuary state. 

However, multiple organizations included in the timeline, such as the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) and the UNLV Immigration Clinic, said they never had formal partnerships with ONA as indicated in the report. 

“PLAN has never had an official partnership with the Office of New American but has been a resource for immigrants navigating the naturalization process,” Laura Martin, executive director of PLAN, told The Indy in a statement. “We advocated for the creation of the Office of New Americans so that new Nevadans planting roots in our state had a place that could help them thrive and contribute to our communities.”

The full timeline is included below: