Dive Brief:
- A federal judge last week dismissed the Trump administration’s 2025 lawsuit seeking to preempt New York City’s “sanctuary” provisions regarding cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
- The U.S. Department of Justice’s claims that federal immigration law preempts New York City’s administrative code and a police department operations order aligning with its “sanctuary” policies lack standing, Judge Ramón Reyes Jr. of the U.S. District Court of Eastern New York stated. “A state’s ability to control its officers and employees lies at the heart of state sovereignty,” Reyes wrote, quoting a previous ruling.
- The ruling is “a victory for New Yorkers,” New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement. “We will continue to uphold our local laws and use every tool at our disposal to protect New Yorkers from [Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s] abuses.”
Dive Insight:
The Trump administration’s lawsuit sought to preempt sections of the New York City administrative code that prohibit the NYC Department of Correction from honoring civil immigration detainers or notifying federal immigration authorities of individuals’ release unless a federal judge has issued a judicial warrant and the person has been convicted of a violent crime or is flagged in a federal terrorist screening database. The code also restricts the NYPD from sharing certain custody and non-public information with federal immigration agents.
The lawsuit also sought to preempt NYPD Operations Order No. 4, which limits NYPD officers’ assistance with civil immigration enforcement.
The DOJ asserted the provisions violated the Supremacy Clause by preempting federal immigration law and discriminating against the federal government. These claims failed, Reyes wrote, because “when courts are called upon to address preemption questions, ‘the analysis always begins with the assumption that the historic police powers of the States are not to be superseded by the Federal Act unless that was the clear and manifest purpose of Congress.’”
The Tenth Amendment’s anticommandeering doctrine further prevents the federal government from compelling local governments to participate in federal immigration enforcement, Reyes wrote.
“The court made clear that the federal government has no standing to bring this case and cannot commandeer our City workers to do its bidding,” Mamdani said. “The federal government wants to use fear to divide our city. We will not let them.”
The DOJ declined to comment on ongoing litigation.
