The Trump administration filed a federal lawsuit against New York City on Thursday, accusing city officials of deliberately obstructing immigration enforcement efforts by shielding illegal migrants from federal authorities.
In a sweeping legal complaint, the administration claims New York’s sanctuary city laws have interfered with federal operations, in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.
Federal lawyers argue the city’s policies are not only unlawful but actively undermine immigration enforcement by keeping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the dark and allowing criminal aliens to walk free.
“New York City’s Sanctuary Provisions have the purpose and effect of making it more difficult for federal immigration officers to carry out their responsibilities in that jurisdiction,” the complaint reads.
🚨BREAKING: Trump DOJ SUES New York City over sanctuary policies — says NYC is harboring illegals and blocking ICE enforcement
pic.twitter.com/AEc6q2dqpo— Le Bark News (@LeBarkNews) July 24, 2025
The filing accuses the city of creating legal barriers that block local law enforcement from cooperating with federal agencies.
Specifically, it targets restrictions that prevent the sharing of critical information, like when a suspect will be released from custody or their court appearance schedule, information ICE depends on to safely detain illegal immigrants who are eligible for deportation.
According to the suit, these policies have a direct impact on ICE’s ability to detain individuals who pose a threat.
“The challenged provisions also impair federal detention of removable aliens, including dangerous criminals, contrary to federal law,” the filing states.
Further complicating matters, the lawsuit alleges that city officials are demanding ICE agents obtain criminal arrest warrants, rather than civil ones, which are the appropriate legal tools for immigration violations under federal law.
The city’s policies, the suit claims, essentially guarantee that undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds are released back into neighborhoods instead of being handed over to federal custody.
That practice, the lawsuit argues, forces ICE agents to execute more dangerous arrests in the community, thereby putting officers and civilians at risk.
“This intentional sabotage of federal immigration enforcement is unlawful and dangerous,” the filing states.
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“These Sanctuary Policies have resulted in countless criminals being released into the City who should have been held for immigration removal from the United States.”
The legal action against New York is part of a broader crackdown on sanctuary jurisdictions.
In recent months, similar lawsuits have been filed against other Democrat-led cities, including Los Angeles in June and Chicago earlier in the year.
In a notable reversal, the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky announced this week that the city will no longer defy federal immigration policy.
Mayor Craig Greenberg (D) revealed Tuesday that his administration has agreed to reinstate a policy requiring the city’s corrections department to honor 48-hour immigration detainer requests from ICE.
The move comes after the Trump administration offered to remove Louisville from its list of sanctuary cities, provided the city resumed full cooperation with federal immigration agents.
🚨BREAKING: Attorney General Pam Bondi announces that Louisville, Kentucky has DROPPED its sanctuary city policies after the DOJ threatened them. pic.twitter.com/KvRpA1hIIu
— Proud Elephant 🇺🇸🦅 (@ProudElephantUS) July 22, 2025
Under the updated guidelines, the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections (LMDC) will be required to alert the Department of Homeland Security at least 48 hours in advance of releasing any inmate flagged with an immigration detainer.
Greenberg acknowledged that the change marks a return to the city’s pre-2017 policy, when detainer compliance was standard across Kentucky.
In recent years, the city had reduced the window of advance notice to as little as five hours, leaving ICE scrambling to locate and detain individuals upon release.
“I have been assured by the U.S. Department of Justice that, if we reinstate the 48-hour detainers for inmates who’ve been arrested for crimes, Louisville will be taken off the federal sanctuary city list,” Greenberg said during a public address.
“Accordingly, Metro Corrections will begin honoring 48-hour federal detainers as soon as practical because the stakes are too high,” he added. “In turn, Louisville will no longer be considered a ‘sanctuary city’ by the federal government.”
The mayor said the decision followed consultations with local immigrant advocates, some of whom expressed growing concern about remaining on the administration’s sanctuary list.
Greenberg warned that other cities labeled as sanctuary zones have already faced aggressive ICE operations, including widespread enforcement raids.
“This change in designation is critical. Cities on the sanctuary city list right now are experiencing a terrifying increase in raids by ICE, including mass raids. Just look at what’s gone on in LA and other cities across the country,” Greenberg said.
Despite his policy reversal, Greenberg maintained that the impact would be narrow.
He estimated that fewer than 100 inmates per year would be affected by the reinstated detainer policy, compared to the tens of thousands of immigrant families residing in Louisville.
“We do not want to see highly coordinated and often violent federal enforcement action here, especially in workplaces, residential areas, schools, places of worship, parks, and other areas where law-abiding people gather,” he commented.
“We do not want the National Guard occupying the streets of Louisville. I will not risk the safety of our broader immigrant community.”
In addition to public safety concerns, Greenberg cited economic ramifications.
According to the mayor, Louisville risked forfeiting hundreds of millions in federal aid by remaining on the sanctuary city list.
These funds, he said, go toward essentials such as food security, rent support, and healthcare access for vulnerable populations.
“I will not risk hurting them either,” Greenberg declared, referring to the city’s most at-risk residents.
“I believe we will best protect our law-abiding immigrant community and our entire city by focusing the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement actions on the few inmates in our jail who have been arrested for committing crimes and are subject to deportation,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance spoke on the broader implications of the administration’s immigration agenda during an appearance at a Washington D.C. policy summit.
JD Vance is setting the record straight after criticism that the Trump administration isn't deporting people fast enough — saying that in 2025, the U.S. will have "the first net negative immigration number in about 50 or 60 years." pic.twitter.com/xZoRteaiJb
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 24, 2025
Addressing conservative critics who argue the White House has not gone far enough, Vance offered a striking statistic.
“In 2025 we will have the first net negative immigration number in about 50 or 60 years in the United States,” he claimed.
Vance also shot down the claim that the Biden administration deported more people.
“That’s actually a completely fake statistic,” he said. “It’s based on the fact that if you come into the country illegally, and then the Biden administration processes you and sends you out, that counts as a deportation.”
Watch the full interview here:
None of them will ever go to prison.