On Wednesday, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit against New York State over its immigration policies, accusing state officials of prioritizing “illegal aliens over American citizens.”
Speaking alongside federal agents involved in Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi echoed the president’s stance, pledging that the Justice Department would take action against communities that obstruct federal immigration laws.
Bondi specifically targeted New York’s “green light” law, which allows individuals in the state, regardless of their citizenship or legal residency status, to obtain a driver’s license.
The law was introduced in part to improve road safety, as many undocumented individuals drove without a license or road test, and it also facilitated auto insurance access for drivers without insurance. Bondi declared, “It stops today.”
The lawsuit characterizes the law as “a frontal assault on federal immigration laws and the federal authorities that enforce them.” It takes issue with a provision requiring the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles commissioner to inform individuals who are in the U.S. illegally when their information is requested by federal immigration agencies.
The Justice Department is seeking a court ruling to invalidate the law. Although the lawsuit is civil, not criminal, Bondi mistakenly referred to it as “charges” filed against the state of New York.
Bondi made the announcement alongside Tammy Nobles, whose 20-year-old daughter was killed in a July 2022 incident in Aberdeen, Maryland, by an individual from El Salvador who had entered the U.S. illegally earlier that year.
Bondi’s rhetoric, unusually political for the Justice Department, raised concerns about possible misuse of law enforcement powers to target the president’s political opponents.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has sued Trump in the past, leading to a civil fraud ruling costing him nearly $500 million, stated she was ready to defend the state’s laws, which she argued “protect the rights of all New Yorkers and keep our communities safe.”
This lawsuit follows a similar action by the Justice Department, which recently sued Chicago over its “sanctuary” laws, accusing the city of hindering federal immigration enforcement efforts.
