The Justice Department on Thursday announced a lawsuit against New York City’s so-called sanctuary city policies, days after the Trump administration blamed those policies for the shooting of an off-duty US Customs and Border Protection officer in Manhattan.
The lawsuit mirrors one filed against Los Angeles last month and is part of the administration’s widespread crackdown on undocumented immigrants in the US. Similar lawsuits have also been filed against New York state, Colorado, Illinois, the city of Rochester, New York, and several New Jersey cities, the Justice Department said in a statement.
The department argues New York City’s policies “are designed to impede the Federal Government’s ability to enforce the federal immigration laws” and have allowed criminals in the country illegally to evade detainment and deportation.
“New York City has released thousands of criminals on the streets to commit violent crimes against law-abiding citizens due to sanctuary city policies,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in the Justice Department statement. “If New York City won’t stand up for the safety of its citizens, we will.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the city will review the lawsuit.
“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,” Adams said in a statement.
He added that while he supports “the essence of the local laws,” he believes “they go too far when it comes to dealing with those violent criminals on our streets,” and urged the city council to reexamine the policies “to ensure we can effectively work with the federal government to make our city safer.”
“Sanctuary city” is a broad term used to describe jurisdictions that have policies designed to limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration officials. The general goal is to protect undocumented immigrants who are not involved in criminal activity from deportation.
“Just this week, New York City’s sanctuary policies have reaped tragic consequences,” the Justice Department’s lawsuit said, pointing to the shooting of the off-duty CBP agent over the weekend in an apparent robbery gone wrong.
The agent, who was not in uniform at the time, was expected to survive and there is no indication he was targeted because of his employment, New York police said.
The two suspects in the incident – Miguel Mora and Cristian Aybar Berroa – are undocumented immigrants and had criminal histories, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said.
“Both aliens entered the United States illegally and were repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior since,” the lawsuit said.
“(Mora) was arrested four different times in New York City, and because of the mayor’s policies and sanctuary city policies, was released back to do harm to people and to individuals living in this city,” Noem said Monday.
Noem called on leaders of sanctuary cities nationwide to change their policies. When asked what policies would have prevented the shooting, Noem did not provide specifics.
In its lawsuit against Los Angeles, the Justice Department claimed the city’s sanctuary policies led to the protests against deportation actions that prompted President Donald Trump to federalize the National Guard and send Marine’s to patrol the city.
CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas, Jeff Winter, Gloria Pazmino and John Miller contributed to this report.
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