Trump loses challenge to NYC sanctuary city laws

No federal law requires states to participate in federal immigration enforcement or compels states to comply with those efforts, the judge said.BROOKLYN (CN) — A federal judge on Thursday tossed President Donald Trump’s attempt to undo New York City’s sanctuary city policies, which allow local officials to refuse to transfer noncitizens into federal custody without an arrest warrant.U.S. District Judge Ramón Reyes Jr. found the federal government lacks standing to bring its 2025 lawsuit claiming NYC’s sanctuary city policies are preempted by federal law.“Even if the United States has standing — and it does not — its preemption claims fail,” Reyes wrote in the order. “All of the United States’ preemption claims — express, conflict and field — fail because the relevant federal statutes do not regulate private actors.”Reyes explained that if the challenged provisions were struck, while NYC wouldn’t be obligated to carry out federal immigration enforcement, the city would be barred from prohibiting its own agencies and employees from engaging in federal immigration enforcement — using its own staff, property and other resources to detain people and implement inter-agency data-sharing, “all potentially in violation of state law.”“And of course, there is nothing within federal law that obligates states to participate in federal immigration enforcement or compels states to comply therewith,” the Joe Biden appointee wrote.“The United States’ preemption arguments amount to nothing more than a backdoor around the Tenth Amendment and rest on a false distinction between (a) compelling local governments’ participation in federal immigration enforcement and (b) prohibiting local governments from dictating how their personnel and other resources may be utilized towards federal immigration enforcement.”Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of New York Immigration Coalition, praised Reyes’ ruling and thanked the judge for “upholding our constitutional rights and the state’s rights to pass laws that keep our communities safe.”“We always knew that the Trump Administration’s lawsuit was a last ditch attempt to make an end run around the Tenth Amendment,” Awawdeh said in a statement. “Neither New York City nor New York State will be bullied by the federal government to give up our rights and protections.”Neither the White House nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to a request for comment.The Trump administration claims in the July 2025 lawsuit that the city’s sanctuary laws, first implemented by Mayor Edward Koch in 1989, violate the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution and make it more difficult for federal immigration officers to do their jobs by obstructing the sharing of information like release dates, court appearance dates and custodial status.The suit was filed in the wake of a shooting during an attempted robbery of an off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer in a Manhattan park beneath the George Washington Bridge and the subsequent arrest of two men from the Dominican Republic who entered the country illegally.Thursday also marked one week since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stormed a man’s car, broke his window and, while his 5-year-old son screamed in the back seat, opened fire, leaving a bullet lodged in his neck as he remains in a federal jail.Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican immigrant, needs surgery to have the bullet removed but says he hasn’t received any information about whether he’ll be able to get the procedure this week, as doctors directed him to do.Belgal also says ICE agents ignored his plea for medical care. It was NYPD officers, arriving at the scene post-shooting, who brought a barely conscious Belgal to the ambulance.According to Belgal, the ICE agents did not identify themselves or present him with an arrest warrant. DHS officials claimed Belgal “weaponized his vehicle” against agents trying to arrest him to justify the shooting.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads