President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against New York City, New York, Mayor Eric Adams (D) over the city’s sanctuary policies that shield illegal aliens from federal immigration enforcement.
On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced a lawsuit against Adams and other city officials for their enforcement of sanctuary city policies that DOJ prosecutors say are a violation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.
“New York City has released thousands of criminals on the streets to commit violent crimes against law-abiding citizens due to sanctuary city policies,” Bondi said. “If New York City won’t stand up for the safety of its citizens, we will.”
The DOJ’s lawsuit notes events of this week, when two illegal aliens who had been set loose by New York City’s sanctuary policy ended up allegedly shooting a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer in the face and leg during an attempted armed robbery.
“Just this week, New York City’s sanctuary policies have reaped tragic consequences. On July 20, 2025, two illegal aliens allegedly ambushed an off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer while he sat in Fort Washington Park,” the lawsuit states:
They allegedly tried to rob the officer, shooting him in the face and the leg in the process. Both aliens entered the United States illegally and were repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior since. In fact, after an April 5, 2024, arrest for fourth-degree felony grand larceny and petit larceny, ICE placed an immigration detainer on one of the aliens. But the New York City Department of Correction ignored the detainer and released him back onto the streets of New York City, leaving him free to continue committing crimes. But for New York City’s sanctuary policies, this tragedy could have been avoided. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem lamented: “How many more lives will it take, how many more people have to be hurt and victimized before we have public safety be a number one priority in some of our largest cities? [Emphasis added]
The DOJ has filed similar lawsuits against sanctuary jurisdictions like Los Angeles, California; New York State; Colorado; Illinois; and Rochester, New York, and recently got Louisville, Kentucky, to drop its sanctuary policy after a threat of a lawsuit.
“For too long, New York City has been at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing our immigration laws,” Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said in a statement. “Its efforts to thwart federal immigration enforcement end now.”
Earlier this year, in testimony to the House Judiciary’s Immigration Subcommittee, National Immigration Center for Enforcement (NICE) President RJ Hauman revealed that from October 2022 through February 2025 some 25,000 criminal illegal aliens were shielded from federal immigration enforcement thanks to sanctuary jurisdictions.
The lawsuit is United States v. City of New York, No. 1:25-cv-4084 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
