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State lawmakers passed the ban in 2020 when President Trump in his first term escalated arrests of undocumented immigrants at state and local courts.
June 12, 2025, 5:15 p.m. ET
The Trump administration sued New York on Thursday over a state law that largely blocks immigration agents from conducting arrests in state or local courthouses, arguing that the measure is an unconstitutional effort to stymie immigration enforcement efforts.
Lawmakers in New York passed the law in 2020 as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers escalated arrests of undocumented immigrants at state and local courts during President Trump’s first term. The measure — which says law enforcement officers can arrest people at or near courthouses only if the officers have a court order or criminal warrant signed by a judge — makes it harder for ICE to conduct immigration arrests, which are civil matters.
Pam Bondi, the attorney general, cast the state law as a left-wing measure that shielded criminals and endangered public safety. The lawsuit came four months after Ms. Bondi, in one of her first moves, sued New York over another state law that allows undocumented immigrants to get a driver’s license.
“Lawless sanctuary city policies are the root cause of the violence that Americans have seen in California, and New York State is similarly employing sanctuary city policies to prevent illegal aliens from apprehension,” Ms. Bondi said in a statement. “This latest lawsuit in a series of sanctuary city litigation underscores the Department of Justice’s commitment to keeping Americans safe and aggressively enforcing the law.”
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Albany, is the latest move by the Trump administration in its quest to topple local policies that it argues are unlawfully interfering with its widening immigration crackdown. The White House is looking to force more cooperation from states and cities that are dominated by Democratic officials. Many of those states have large immigrant populations and have passed so-called sanctuary laws that restrict how much local officials can engage with federal immigration authorities.
The administration has already sued some sanctuary jurisdictions, including Chicago; threatened to charge local officials who resist immigration enforcement; and recently released a list of nearly 400 localities it says are interfering with immigration enforcement actions.
