July 25 (UPI) — The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against New York City, challenging its so-called sanctuary city policies, as the Trump administration continues to crack down on immigration.
The lawsuit was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York asking it to declare the city’s sanctuary policies in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the constitution, which states that federal laws take precedence over conflicting state laws.
“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 a statement.
“If New York City won’t stand up for the safety of its citizens, we will.”
So-called sanctuary cities are those that limit the cooperation of local and state law enforcement with federal immigration officers. The non-profit, nonpartisan American Immigration Council states such policies “promote a greater level of trust and cooperation” between local law enforcement and the communities they police, while opponents say they interfere with federal immigration enforcement and prevent immigration agents from doing their job.
“New York City has long been at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing this country’s immigration laws,” federal prosecutors said in the lawsuit Thursday. “It’s history as a sanctuary city dates back to 1989, and its efforts to thwart federal immigration enforcement have only intensified since.”
New York City Council balked at the lawsuit, calling it a distraction from the fact that “cities with sanctuary laws are safer than those without them.”
“When residents feel comfortable reporting crime and cooperating with local law enforcement, we are all safer, something both Republicans and Democratic mayors of New York City have recognized,” the council said in a statement online.
“It is the Trump administration indiscriminately targeting people at civil court hearings, detaining high school students and separating families that makes our city and nation less safe.”
Sanctuary cities have been a target of Republicans who view them as a hindrance to the rule of law while protecting undocumented migrants, while Democrats see them as protecting immigrant communities and public trust.
There are dozens of sanctuary cities and regions throughout the United States, And President Donald Trump has sought to reduce that number.
On April 28, he signed an executive order threatening federal funding to sanctuary cities and directing the Justice Department and Homeland Security to uncover which policies violate federal law.
The Justice Department has already brought several such lawsuit against so-called sanctuary states and cities, including Los Angeles and the states fo New York, Colorado and Illinois.