Federal Judge Throws Out Trump Administration Lawsuit Against New York City’s Sanctuary Laws

NEW YORK, Oct. 17 (TodayViralUSA) — A federal judge in Brooklyn has dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit seeking to strike down New York City laws that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, handing the city a significant legal win in its long-running clash with Washington over deportations.

U.S. District Judge Ramón E. Reyes Jr. of the Eastern District of New York granted the city’s motion to dismiss late Thursday, rejecting the Justice Department’s argument that the local measures are preempted by federal law and violate the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

What the court decided

The suit, filed in July 2025, targeted several sections of the city’s administrative code and an NYPD operations order that restrict honoring federal immigration detainers without a judicial warrant and limit the sharing of information such as release dates and custody status.

Reyes found the federal government lacked standing to challenge the detainer rule because the same practice is already barred under New York state law, Reuters reported. He also held that the information-sharing limits are valid because federal law does not require state and local governments to hand over that data.

The government’s preemption theory, the judge wrote, would “amount to nothing more than a backdoor around the Tenth Amendment,” whose anti-commandeering principle bars Washington from forcing local officials to carry out federal programs. He went further, concluding that two federal statutes on immigration-status information sharing themselves violate that doctrine, and declining to follow an earlier appellate ruling involving the city that he said was of “questionable viability.”

The court also rejected the claim that the city discriminates against the federal government, finding the administration could not identify any similarly situated entity that receives better treatment.

Reaction

New York’s mayor welcomed the ruling, saying, “Our city belongs to all of us, and we will not abandon our neighbors,” according to The Guardian. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and it was not clear whether it would appeal.

The case is one of several the administration has brought against so-called sanctuary jurisdictions as part of its push for mass deportations, and the ruling adds to a growing list of court decisions favoring cities and states on anti-commandeering grounds.