The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against New York City and several of its officials, including Mayor Eric Adams, accusing them of blocking federal immigration enforcement through local sanctuary policies.
In a statement on Thursday, the DOJ described the city’s actions as an “intentional effort to obstruct federal law enforcement”. The legal challenge argues that New York City’s policies restrict cooperation with federal immigration authorities, undermining national efforts to curb illegal migration.
US President Donald Trump in recent months has intensified his administration’s campaign against Democratic-controlled cities that uphold sanctuary policies, combining lawsuits with large-scale anti-immigrant law enforcement raids.
“New York City has released thousands of criminals on the streets to commit violent crimes against law-abiding citizens due to sanctuary city policies,” US Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
US Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate added that the city has long been “at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing our immigration laws”.
The DOJ maintains it's own understanding and a policy that such ideas or favours violate the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, arguing that federal law takes precedence over conflicting local measures.
Responding to the lawsuit, Mayor Eric Adams defended the core of the city’s laws but conceded that some provisions might need reassessment. “While I stand for the essence of the local laws, they go too far when it comes to dealing with those violent criminals on our streets,” Adams said, urging the city council to review the measures to ensure more effective cooperation with the federal government.
The legal action against New York City is the latest in a series of moves by the Trump administration targeting sanctuary jurisdictions in Democratic strongholds across the United States. In the past three months, the DOJ has filed similar lawsuits against Los Angeles, the state of New York, Colorado, Illinois and several cities in New Jersey.
Earlier this week, the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, announced the city would abandon its sanctuary policies and begin complying with federal immigration enforcement. He warned that resisting the Trump administration’s directives could expose cities to extensive immigration raids, citing recent operations in California as an example.
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