Trump administration sues New York City over 'sanctuary city' policies

The Trump administration on Thursday sued New York City, arguing that its "sanctuary" policies shield criminals and impede the federal government's ability to enforce immigration laws.

The lawsuit, which was filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, also names as co-defendants Mayor Eric Adams, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and several other city officials.

"New York City has long been at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing this country’s immigration laws," according to the lawsuit, which cites local ordinances dating back to 1989 and adds that the city's "efforts to thwart immigration enforcement have only intensified since."

Among the lawsuit’s demands are that the court declare the "sanctuary city" laws and policies to be invalid and to be voided, due to their alleged violation of the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause and federal law.

The lawsuit against New York City, America’s largest sanctuary jurisdiction, is largely identical — in wording, in claims and in demands — to litigation filed against "sanctuary" jurisdictions elsewhere in the United States, including Colorado in May and Illinois in February.

And similar to those cases, the Trump administration’s suit against the city alleges that New York obstructs the sharing of information about defendants and inmates, refuses to detain "removable aliens," forces the federal government to obtain warrants and endangers immigration agents’ safety, all of which constitutes "intentional sabotage" that is "unlawful and dangerous."

The suit cites several high-profile incidents, including a shooting over the weekend, during a botched robbery allegedly committed by immigrants in the country illegally, that left an off-duty U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer hospitalized.

In a statement, Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak said the administration would review the suit.

She said Adams "supports the essence of the local laws," so "no one should be afraid to dial 911, send their kids to school, or go to the hospital, and no New Yorker should feel forced to hide in the shadows." But, she said, the mayor also feels the laws "go too far when it comes to dealing with those violent criminals on our streets and has urged the Council to reexamine them."

"So far, the Council has refused," the statement said.

The City Council speaker's office did not return a message seeking comment. Neither did the NYPD.

The latest major update to the city's sanctuary laws came a decade ago under then-Mayor Bill de Blasio, limiting local cooperation with immigration enforcers to only targeting those who are potential terrorists or who have been convicted of the most serious or violent crimes, and even then only with a judicial warrant.

The lawsuit comes months after the Trump administration ordered the dismissal of a political corruption prosecution of Adams in part so that he could help with the immigration crackdown. The administration has promised to undertake the biggest deportation operation in American history.

Adams, in turn, has praised the Trump administration and parts of the immigration crackdown, at times saying "hats off to ICE," the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, and that he wants to "work with ... not war with" Trump.

The case filed Thursday is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to sanction New York City over its "sanctuary" policies. Earlier this year, the administration began to claw back tens of millions of dollars that had already been allocated by Congress in migrant-crisis reimbursements.

In a statement, the New York Civil Liberties Union’s executive director, Donna Lieberman, said: "New York City's decades-old, bipartisan sanctuary laws have made our city safer, supported our economy, strengthened our communities, and made it easier for our people to access vital services."

It added: "New York City, like any local government, has no obligation to redirect its resources to take on federal immigration enforcement, let alone the cruel and lawless deportation campaign the Trump regime is waging."

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.