NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s Justice Department sued New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ administration in federal court Thursday, alleging the city’s “sanctuary” policies interfere with the enforcement of federal immigration law.
The lawsuit represents the latest clash between the Trump administration and Democratic-controlled cities and states over immigration policy — and perhaps a final blow to the president’s mercurial relationship with Adams, one that’s frayed in recent months following a short-lived alliance.
“If New York’s leaders won’t step up to protect their citizens, we will,” Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a Thursday afternoon press release.
In the complaint, filed in Brooklyn federal court, the Justice Department contends New York’s policies violate the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause and asks the court to issue a permanent injunction prohibiting the city from enforcing them.
“The challenged provisions of New York City law reflect the City’s intentional effort to obstruct the United States’ enforcement of federal immigration law, by (among much else) 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,” the complaint reads.
The Justice Department also argues that the city’s refusal to comply with the Department of Homeland Security “frequently puts ICE officers in considerable risk of physical danger,” citing several recent high-profile incidents involving federal immigration officials, including the shooting Sunday that left an off-duty Customs and Border Patrol agent in the hospital.
The complaint, which also named the New York City Council and the city Department of Correction as defendants, also cites data on Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer requests, which the Justice Department claims the city has not honored. New York’s suite of “sanctuary” policies date back to the 1980s and limit cooperation between federal immigrant agents and local law enforcement officers.
Adams' press secretary Kayla Mamelak Altus said the city would review the lawsuit, but argued sanctuary city policies keep New Yorkers safe. “Mayor Adams has been clear: 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,” she said.
Adams supports the “essence” of sanctuary city laws, Mamelak Altus said, but “he has also been clear they go too far when it comes to dealing with those violent criminals on our streets and has urged the Council to reexamine them to ensure we can effectively work with the federal government to make our city safer. So far, the Council has refused.”
The City Council didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit is an ironic twist to the complex relationship between Adams and the Justice Department. In February, after months of the mayor courting Trump, top Justice Department officials ordered New York federal prosecutors to drop their corruption case against the mayor. The DOJ argued the charges impeded Adams’ ability to work with the Trump administration on its immigration agenda, an argument that, in part, led the top federal prosecutor in New York at the time to deride the order as a quid pro quo between Trump and the mayor.
When a federal judge reluctantly agreed to dismiss the charges, saying he couldn’t force the DOJ to prosecute someone, he wrote that “everything here smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the Indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.”
The shooting, and the Trump administration's response, seem to have torn apart the fragile peace between Adams and the White House with regards to immigration enforcement in the five boroughs. Trump border czar Tom Homan reiterated his threat Monday that ICE agents would “flood the zone” in the city after the City Council blocked federal law enforcement agencies from opening an office on Rikers Island, home to the city’s jail complex. And Adams sent a letter to the Trump administration Wednesday expressing concern about conditions for immigrants locked up at 26 Federal Plaza, a building in Lower Manhattan.
But even as Adams has maintained a position of “working, not warring” with the White House, the two administrations have tussled in court. Adams sued Trump in February after the White House removed more than $80 million in migrant funding from a city bank bank account without permission. City Hall has also joined lawsuits seeking the release of individual New Yorkers held by ICE and supported suits challenging the cancellation of FEMA funding.
The White House has sought to crack down on sanctuary cities in recent months, with Trump signing an executive order in February directing federal agencies to identify any programs providing financial benefits to undocumented immigrants. The Justice Department has filed lawsuits against several other cities and states — including Los Angeles and Chicago — over their sanctuary policies.
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