The Justice Department sued New York City and Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday, alleging that its sanctuary policies are unconstitutional and actively interfere with federal immigration enforcement, further escalating tensions between President Donald Trump’s administration and city leaders, Bloomberg reported.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, the suit accuses the city of implementing laws that prevent cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday’s lawsuit on X, describing New York’s sanctuary laws as “continuing to obstruct law enforcement.”

The complaint contends that New York City’s policies are “impeding the consultation and communication between federal and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for the United States to enforce the law and keep Americans safe,” infringing upon the federal government’s “well-established, preeminent, and preemptive authority to regulate immigration.”

The Justice Department seeks to have these decades-old sanctuary policies invalidated on constitutional grounds, invoking the Supremacy Clause, which establishes the primacy of federal law over conflicting state and local legislation.

The lawsuit follows an incident last Saturday involving the shooting of an off-duty Customs and Border Protection agent near the George Washington Bridge. Authorities identified the suspect as an undocumented migrant who illegally entered the U.S. in 2023 and had been under a deportation order since November. Both the agent and the suspect sustained injuries in the confrontation.

Tom Homan, President Trump’s border security adviser, criticized New York City’s sanctuary practices earlier this week, specifically citing a recent city council decision blocking Immigration and Customs Enforcement from establishing a facility at Rikers Island.

“You don’t want to let us in the jails to arrest a bad guy in the safety and security of a jail,” Homan said at a Monday press conference at One World Trade Center. “You want to release him into the street, which makes it unsafe for the alien, because anything can happen in an on-street arrest.”

Mayor Adams, a Democrat, previously acknowledged that the city’s sanctuary policies might need to be “reexamined,” signaling a potential openness to revising the longstanding approach that has led to repeated conflicts with federal authorities.

The legal action is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to challenge sanctuary policies nationwide. Similar federal suits have been filed recently against Los Angeles, Illinois, New Jersey, and other states, asserting that such sanctuary jurisdictions undermine immigration enforcement and compromise public safety.

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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