Department of Justice suing New York, top officials over immigration policies
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The Justice Department is taking legal action against the state of New York and Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Wednesday, over its alleged resistance to supporting the Trump Administration's crackdown on illegal immigration.
The new attorney general delivered heated remarks announcing a new lawsuit against New York state and top officials, claiming they were resisting federal efforts to enforce the nation's immigration laws.
"This is a new DOJ," Bondi said. "We sued Illinois. New York did not listen, now you're next."
She then brought up a woman whose 20-year-old daughter was raped and killed by a member of MS-13 in 2022.
The civil complaint was not immediately available to reporters at the news conference, but Bondi said the lawsuit was centered around New York's Green Light Law that she claimed prohibits the state's sheriff's department and other agencies from sharing motor vehicle data with federal authorities for purposes of immigration enforcement.
"They have a 'tip-off' provision that requires New York's DMV commissioner to promptly inform any illegal alien when a federal immigration agency has requested their information," Bondi said. "It's tipping off an illegal alien. And it's unconstitutional, and that's why we filed this lawsuit."
New York officials respond
It didn't take long for New York officials and city organizations to fire back in response to the lawsuit.
In a lengthy statement released Wednesday night, Gov. Hochul called Bondi's "dramatic" media briefing "smoke and mirrors." The governor said the DOJ filed a "routine civil action" about a law passed in 2019 that has been upheld by the courts in the past.
"Here are the facts: our current laws allow federal immigration officials to access any DMV database with a judicial warrant," Hochul said in the statement. "That's a common-sense approach that most New Yorkers support. But there's no way I'm letting federal agents, or Elon Musk's shadowy DOGE operation, get unfettered access to the personal data of any New Yorker in the DMV system like 16-year-old kids learning to drive and other vulnerable people."
Hochul said she expects Bondi's "worthless, publicity-driven lawsuit to be a total failure."
Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James released a statement, saying she was prepared to defend "our state laws, including the Green Light law" and protect the rights of all New Yorkers.
The New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) says "This filing is yet another Trump administration attempt to shamelessly weaponize the Department of Justice to intimidate political opponents and exert improper political pressure." They added that the charges "represent a gross intrusion into New York's constitutional right to legislate in areas traditionally within its concern," and say they will review the filing when it is made public.
New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) President and CEO Murad Awawdeh also responded with a statement while also taking shots at New York Mayor Eric Adams, saying the lawsuit, "an affront to the 10th Amendment," might work "when Trump bullies Mayor Eric Adams, but he has a much poorer track record against fighters for the public good like our NYS Attorney General Leticia James - who has overwhelmingly defeated Trump's previous attacks on New York."
Mayor Adams, border czar to meet as FEMA pulls funds for housing migrants
The lawsuit is the latest salvo in Washington's feud with New York.
Overnight, the federal government seized more than $80 million from the city's bank accounts, money Congress had allocated, and FEMA had awarded and paid to New York.
"Sending $59 million to a migrant hotel to house illegal immigrants where there are still people in North Carolina and California who have not received FEMA funding is not something that this administration is going to tolerate," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
"Elon Musk with no legal authority, seizing it back from the city of New York is highway robbery and the city can't stand for it," said City Comptroller Brad Lander in response.
It also comes as Trump's Border Czar Tom Homan is set to meet with Mayor Adams on Thursday in the city, hoping to leave with a commitment from the mayor that the NYPD will help round up and deport violent illegal migrants.
The mayor's critics are calling on him to do something and prove himself in light of optics that he has cozied up to President Trump after the Justice Department instructed prosecutors to dismiss his bribery case.
On Wednesday, Mayor Adams denied he's beholden to Trump.
"Look at what I have done. How I have recovered the city. How we have fought for the safety of everyone in our care," Adams said. "Nothing is going to change with that. There is a level of consistency with what we have accomplished and we will continue to do that."
The mayor says when he meets with Homan, he will ask about the $80 million claw back of FEMA funding, and added that the city's Corporation Counsel is looking into possible litigation.
During Bondi's news conference on Wednesday, she was separately asked about the Department of Justice's decision to drop the corruption case against Adams.
She said she was not aware that the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York had not yet moved for the case to be dismissed but said that it should be.
Meanwhile, Gov. Hochul, who was expected to meet with President Trump in Washington on Thursday about New York's priorities, is postponing her scheduled meeting so her administration can review the legal action taken by the Justice Department. They will likely meet in Washington next week.
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