President Donald Trump's administration filed a complaint against New York City, its Mayor Eric Adams, and other officials on July 24 over its sanctuary city laws, charging that they are unconstitutional and violate federal immigration enforcement statutes. Specifically, the Trump administration is challenging New York City Administrative Code §§ 9-131, 9-205, 14-154, and 10-178, as well as New York City Police Department (NYPD) Operations Order No. 4. The administration requested a permanent injunction prohibiting their enforcement, asserting that the laws violate the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Immigration Reform Act.

The Code's §9-205 generally forbids the Department of Probation from honoring civil immigration detainers by holding an inmate beyond the time they would otherwise be released. The Code’s §9-131 and §14-154 impose the same prohibitions on the Department of Corrections and the NYPD, in addition to generally prohibiting them from honoring civil immigration detainers by holding persons beyond the time they would otherwise be released.

The Code's §10-178 bars any city agency from "subject[ing] its officers or employees to the direction and supervision of the Secretary of Homeland Security primarily in furtherance of immigration enforcement." It also bars agencies from using city resources for immigration enforcement. NYPD Operations Order No. 4 generally prohibits police and the department from assisting civil immigration enforcement.

The Trump administration asserts that the US Constitution grants the federal government the power to make immigration laws, and requires the US president to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed." The lawsuit maintains that the federal government has sole power to make and enforce immigration laws based on such provisions and US Supreme Court precedent.

The administration argues that NYC’s sanctuary city laws, as immigration laws, are pre-empted by federal immigration laws under the Supremacy Clause. It also cites Supreme Court precedents to argue that the sanctuary city laws violate the Supremacy Clause and obstruct "the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress."

The Department of Homeland Security has promulgated a regulation requiring that when it issues an immigration detainer to a law enforcement agency, the agency “shall maintain custody of the alien for a period not to exceed 48 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays in order to permit assumption of custody by the Department.”

The administration emphasizes its claim that NYC's sanctuary city laws threaten the safety of the public, federal officers, and the immigrants themselves by leaving illegal immigrants "out in the street" and making officers arrest them there rather than in a public jail. It also stress the "considerable financial impact on ICE's operational costs [because now it] takes more time and more officers to effect arrests over the same number of aliens."

Adams published the following press statement in response to the complaint:

Keeping New Yorkers safe also means making sure they feel safe, and we have 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. That’s why we support the essence of the local laws putting place by the City Council—but I have also been clear they go too far when it comes to dealing with those violent criminals on our streets and have urged the Council to reexamine them… So far, the Council has refused.

From JURIST, July 26. Used with permission.