Trump DOJ plans to sue NY over sanctuary, immigration policies

Molly Crane-Newman and Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News on Feb 12, 2025

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NEW YORK — Trump’s Justice Department on Wednesday announced it would file civil charges against Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York Attorney General Letitia James for limiting compliance with the president’s hard-line immigration policies.

“New York has chosen to prioritize illegal aliens over American citizens. It stops. It stops today,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a press conference, saying it was “a new DOJ” and adding if other states are not compliant, “You are next, get ready.”

The lawsuit did not appear to have been filed when Bondi announced it. The planned action follows a similar federal action the DOJ filed last week against Illinois.

Bondi said New York “didn’t listen.”

The newly sworn-in AG said the suit would specifically challenge New York’s “green light” laws allowing the DMV to inform undocumented people with a driving license whether a federal immigration agency has requested their information.

“What New York has, they have green light laws, meaning they’re giving a green light to any illegal alien in New York where law enforcement officers cannot check their identity if they pull them over,” Bondi said.

“It’s tipping off an illegal alien and it’s unconstitutional.”

Bondi said state Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles Mark Schroeder would also be a defendant in the suit.

A representative for James declined to comment on the planned lawsuit that had not been filed. The Daily News reached out to spokespeople for Hochul and Schroeder.

Trump has made clear he plans to challenge so-called sanctuary laws that shield undocumented immigrants from federal intervention in certain settings. In New York City, which Bondi did not say would be named as a defendant, Mayor Eric Adams has said he thinks the city’s current sanctuary protections go too far in shielding criminals and has said he may use executive actions to roll them back.

Bondi said she hoped Adams would get on board with the administration’s hard-line tactics.

Adams is waiting to see if federal prosecutors at the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office will follow through on an order from Main Justice in Washington, D.C., to drop the sweeping public corruption case against him. The directive said it was important for him to be free to “support” the DOJ’s “critical” immigration enforcement actions.

“We’re hoping that in New York, Mayor Adams is going to cooperate with us,” the AG said Wednesday.

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