As part of Donald Trump’s sweeping changes to solve the immigration crisis, he promised not only mass deportations but a crackdown on so-called liberal “sanctuary cities.” Keeping to that promise Trump Department of Justice is taking aim at deep-blue New York state over its immigration policies.
Trump’s newly installed attorney general Pam Bondi is suing New York state, accusing Empire State officials of choosing “to prioritize illegal aliens over American citizens.”
Standing in front of federal agents who have been tasked with helping in Trump’s immigration crackdown, Bondi vowed the justice department would take on communities that thwart federal immigration efforts.
“It stops,” Bondi said. “It stops today.”
The lawsuit describes the law as “a frontal assault on the federal immigration laws and the federal authorities that administer them.” It highlights a provision that requires the state’s department of motor vehicles commissioner to inform people who are in the country illegally when a federal immigration agency has requested their information. The justice department is asking the court to strike down the law.
Bondi made the announcement alongside Tammy Nobles, whose 20-year-old daughter was killed in Aberdeen, Maryland, in July 2022 by someone from El Salvador who had entered the country illegally months earlier in Texas.
Bondi says that the Empire State is endangering the public by interfering with federal law enforcement’s ability to track down and arrest violent people subject to deportation.
As to the specific law regarding the DMV, Bondi said, “It’s tipping off an illegal alien, and it’s unconstitutional, and that’s why we filed this lawsuit.”
“If you don’t comply with federal law, we will hold you accountable,” Bondi said. “We did it to Illinois, strike one. Strike two is New York. And if you are a state not complying with federal law, you’re next. Get ready.”
She was referring to a similar suit the Justice Department filed against Illinois last week before Bondi’s confirmation. That case alleges that the state violates federal law by impeding communication between local law enforcement and their federal counterparts.
New York’s Democrat Governor, Kathy Hochul, responded to the lawsuit, calling it “worthless” and “publicity-driven” in a long statement slamming Bondi’s decision to sue New York and a handful of its officials.
New York Attorney General Letitia James also responded to the lawsuit with the following sentence: “Our state laws, including the Green Light law, protect the rights of all New Yorkers and keep our communities safe. I am prepared to defend our laws, just as I always have.”