The Justice Department announced Wednesday it was suing New York state over its policy of limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, with Gov. Kathy Hochul, state AG Letitia James and DMV chief Mark Schroeder in AG Pam Bondi’s crosshairs.
“This is a new DOJ,” Bondi announced. “New York has chosen to prioritize illegal aliens over American citizens. It stops. It stops today.”
“As you know, we sued Illinois,” Bondi added. “New York didn’t listen. So now, you’re next.”
The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of New York and obtained by The Post, targeted the Empire State’s “Green Light Law,” which grants driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.
The 2019 law also bars inquiries into immigration status and bans the state DMV from sharing personal information with the feds and law enforcement unless ordered by a judge. Licensees are also alerted if a federal immigration agency requests their information.
“The United States is currently facing a crisis of illegal immigration. And the Federal Government is set to put a stop to it,” the complaint said. “While States are welcome partners in that effort, it is the prerogative as separate sovereigns to refrain. But a State’s freedom to stand aside is not a freedom to stand in the way. And where inaction crosses into obstruction, a State breaks the law.
“The State of New York is doing just that. It must be stopped.”
The filing added that DMV information is “critical” for federal immigration agencies to “identify and remove those who are here illegally” and keep their officers safe.
“From vehicle stops to border crossings to executing arrests and searches, immigration authorities depend on these records to assess real-time the situations they face and the people they encounter,” the complaint continued.
“But New York’s Green Light Law deprives them of this insight; and in turn, unnecessarily forces brave law enforcement officers into dangers and uncertain circumstances.”
Hochul “has been clear from day one: she supports deporting violent criminals who break our laws, believes that law-abiding families should not be targets, and will coordinate with federal authorities who have a judicial warrant,” her press secretary Avi Small said in a statement before the lawsuit was filed.
James also fired back in a statement hours later.
“Our state laws, including the Green Light law, protect the rights of all New Yorkers and keep our communities safe. I am prepared to defend our laws, just as I always have.”
A source familiar told The Post that Hochul and Trump had “tentatively agreed” to meet next week when she is in Washington, DC, for the National Governors Association meeting.
Last week, the Justice Department asked a federal judge to immediately strike down sanctuary policies in Illinois and Chicago, arguing state and local officials “are an obstacle to the Federal Government’s enforcement of the immigration laws and discriminate against federal immigration enforcement.”
Bondi on her first day in office also froze all DOJ funding for 60 days to so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions” from New York to California.
In 2023, those law enforcement grants to New York City alone amounted to more than $1.56 billion, according to the Center for Immigration Services, a conservative nonprofit research organization.
The Justice Department had been expected to fork over more than $8 billion in funding to city agencies in fiscal year 2025, municipal data show.
But Bondi ordered her department to “not enter into any new contract, grant, or other agreement to provide Federal funding to non-governmental organizations that support or provide services, either directly or indirectly (e.g., through sub-contracting or other arrangements), to removable or illegal aliens.”
The moves come as border czar Tom Homan ramps up immigration removal proceedings nationwide, kicking out 11,000 migrants targeted for having been charged or convicted of crimes.
Some migrants being deported have been flown to the US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, while others have been jetted back to their native countries like Venezuela or Colombia — with the latter buckling under threat of President Trump levying import taxes.
Congressional Republicans in blue states had long advocated for the abolition of sanctuary policies, pointing to migrants who evaded federal custody and went on to commit heinous crimes.
The first bill Trump signed upon his return to the White House chipped away at the localities’ power by forcing them to deport migrants charged with theft, assault, or other serious crimes causing bodily injury or death.
That legislation, the Laken Riley Act, was named for the 22-year-old Georgia nursing student slain by an illegal migrant who had previously been arrested for stealing.
A member of the vicious Tren de Aragua gang, Jose Ibarra had been released into the US by the Biden administration after crossing the southern border.
He had also slipped through authorities’ fingers after being charged with child endangerment in Queens, New York.
Trump signed a Day One executive order tasking Bondi with reviewing state and local sanctuary policies, revoking federal funding and imposing civil or criminal penalties with those not cooperating with immigration authorities.
In coordination with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the AG was also deputized to claw back federal funding “determined to be in violation of law or to be sources of waste, fraud, or abuse.”
Reps for Schroeder did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
