Trump administration sues New York City over sanctuary city protections for immigrants
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Brooklyn Federal Court, cites Sunday's shooting of an off-duty Customs and Border Patrol officer in Fort Washington Park and the arrest of two migrants who were in the country illegally. It contends that the city has 'long been at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing this country's immigration laws.'
The lawsuit is seeking an injunction to put a stop to city laws that bar the use of resources from being used in immigration enforcement, and blocking city agencies like the Department of Correction and the police from honoring civil immigration detainers placed by federal authorities.
The city's sanctuary laws were passed under Mayor de Blasio in 2014. They limit communications and cooperation between federal immigration enforcement agencies and local agencies, including law enforcement.
The lawsuit specifically takes aim at an NYPD operations order that prevents officers from engaging in or assisting in civil immigration enforcement. It prevents cops from contacting civil immigration authorities to let them know where an individual is located; detaining an individual so that person can be taken into custody and allowing NYPD facilities to be utilized in connection with civil immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit was filed against the city, Mayor Adams and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, as well as the NYPD and the Department of Correction. It claims local protections are designed to obstruct the lawful enforcement of federal immigration law, and that the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution means that federal law pre-empts any laws passed by New York City.
'We will review the lawsuit,' Adams spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak said. The council did not immediately comment.
The lawsuit criticized what it called 'the city's intentional effort to obstruct the United States' enforcement of federal immigration law, by (among much else) impeding the consultation and communication between federal and local law enforcement officials that is necessary for the United States to enforce the law and keep Americans safe.'
Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, blasted the administration's efforts.
'Unfortunately, Donald Trump thinks that he and he alone can decide our country's local laws – undermining the 10th amendment,' Awawdeh said. 'Today's lawsuit is frivolous at best, and an attack on New York's ability to govern itself at worst. New York must reject Trump's continued assaults to its Constitutional right to pass local laws that serve our communities best. Mayor Adams must fight back against this federal overreach and defend the well-being of all New Yorkers.'
The lawsuit comes after DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Monday blamed the mayor and New York's sanctuary city policies for the shooting of the off-duty Customs and Border Patrol agent.
'This officer is in the hospital today, fighting for his life, because of the policies of the mayor of the city and the City Council and the people that were in charge of keeping the public safe refused to do so,' Noem said. 'When I look at what Mayor Adams has done to New York City, it breaks my heart to see the families that have suffered because of his policies.'
Noem's comments marked an unusual Trump administration rebuke of Adams, whose criminal indictment was dismissed by Trump's DOJ in what has been criticized as a corrupt deal to aid in the administration's deportation efforts.
Though named as the defendant in Trump's lawsuit, Adams himself has been critical of the sweep of the city's sanctuary city protections and has talked about the possibility of using executive orders to dial them back.
Mamelak said the lawsuit does not point to any change in the relationship between Adams and the Trump administration.
'Mayor Adams has 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,' Mamelak said. 'That's why the mayor supports the essence of the local laws put in place by the City Council — but he has also been clear they go too far when it comes to dealing with those violent criminals on our streets and has urged the Council to reexamine them to ensure we can effectively work with the federal government to make our city safer. So far, the Council has refused.'
At a press conference Wednesday, the mayor, asked about sanctuary policies, said he wished he could use his executive authority to override laws he didn't like.
'I wish my EOs can override laws. I'd override a whole lot of laws,' Adams said. 'But executive orders can't override laws. And that's one of the misnomers that's out there, that mayors have the ability to override existing laws. No, the City Council, they pass laws and we sign it into law. But we can't use the power of our pen with executive orders to override the laws.'
Adams, through his Deputy Randy Mastro, did issue an executive order earlier this year allowing ICE to operate an office on Rikers Island, but those plans are at a standstill after the Council challenged the move in court.
The City Council has pushed back strongly against any changes to the sanctuary laws, which are intended to allow immigrants to make use of the city's resources, send children to school and seek help from law enforcement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Released Israeli-Argentinian hostage fights for brother still held by Hamas
KFAR SABA, Israel (AP) — As Israel has announced steps to increase humanitarian aid in Gaza, a former Israeli-Argentinian hostage knows first-hand what that could mean for captives of the Hamas militant group. Iair Horn, who spent a year and a half in captivity, said hostages could tell when more aid was available because they would receive more food. 'When there's less food, then there's also less for the hostages. When there's aid, there's a possibility you might get a cucumber,' said Horn, 46. Hamas militants kidnapped Horn from his home at Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with 250 other people, during the group's cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023. He was released Feb. 15 after 498 days in captivity. For most of that time, he was held in an underground cell in a tunnel with several other hostages, including his younger brother Eitan Horn, 38. Since his release, Iair Horn has deferred his own recovery to fight for the release of his brother and the other 50 hostages still being held in Gaza, 20 of whom are still believed to be alive. Negotiations collapse again Hearing that negotiations between Israel and Hamas were once again frozen over the weekend was devastating for his family, Horn said. Since his release, he has made four trips to the U.S., where he has met with President Donald Trump and other American leaders to plead for the hostages. He wasn't sure what to make of a comment Thursday by President Donald Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff, who said the U.S. would consider 'alternative options' after recalling its negotiating team from Qatar. 'I'm not a politician, and I'm not getting into those things because I don't understand them. What I understand is very simple: I want my brother back,' Horn said. 'My life is frozen right now. I live in a nightmare that every day they are kidnapping me anew,' he said. Horn, who is single, is currently living with family in Kfar Saba, a city near Tel Aviv. Previously, he worked a variety of jobs in Kibbutz Nir Oz, including in education, maintenance and the kitchen. He also ran the kibbutz pub. Every morning when he opens his eyes, he must think for a few moments to remember where he is, to remember he is no longer a hostage, Horn said. He's gained back some of the weight he lost in captivity, but his list of physical and psychological ailments is long. He does not know where he will live, what he will do in the future, or if he will go back to Nir Oz. The only thing he concentrates on is advocating for his brother's release. 'I never imagined that another half year would pass without seeing my little brother,' he said. Israel's war in Gaza has killed more than 59,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The agency's count doesn't distinguish between militants and civilians, but the ministry says that more than half of the dead are women and children. The U.N. and other international organizations see the ministry, which operates under the Hamas government, as the most reliable source of data on casualties. Brothers were held together Iair Horn is the oldest of three brothers who grew up in Argentina. He moved to Israel at age 20, followed by his middle brother, Amos. Eitan and their parents, long divorced, joined later. On Oct. 7, 2023, Eitan was visiting Iair at his home on Kibbutz Nir Oz when the sirens started, warning of incoming missiles. Soon they received text messages alerting them to the fact that militants had infiltrated the kibbutz. Militants entered Iair's home, where he was hiding in the reinforced safe room with Eitan. Iair attempted to hold the door shut until they began shooting through the door. Then he decided to surrender, worried they might use grenades or stronger weapons. Iair, who was immediately taken into Gaza, didn't know what had happened to his brother until around the 50th day of his captivity, when the militants placed the two brothers together, and Iair realized Eitan had also been kidnapped. Being together, even in their small, barred room, was a stroke of luck, Iair said. 'There's a lot of time with nothing to do, and we talked a lot about our childhoods, about elementary school, about the youth movement, about soccer,' he said. 'We tried to keep our sense of humor. He would ask me, did you brush your teeth? And I'd ask him, did you wash your bellybutton?' 'It was silly things, silly things between siblings that I don't have right now. Many times it happens now that something happens to me on the street that I have to tell him. And I can't, and I'm so sorry,' he said, starting to cry. Captors tell hostages that two will be released For most of the time, the Horn brothers were held with three other hostages. In early February, their captors came to the group of five and said that two would be released. 'For four days, we're looking at each other and wondering if we can decide or influence the decision,' he said. After four days, the captors arrived with a small plate of snacks and a video camera. They announced that Iair and another hostage would be leaving and filmed the emotional interaction between Iair and Eitan. Hamas later released the video on its social media channels, as it has with other videos of the hostages filmed under duress. Their last night together, Eitan and Iair laid side by side in silence. 'There was no conversation because in your head you don't want to have a conversation as if it's your last conversation,' Iair Horn said. When their mother, Ruty Chmiel Strum, learned that Iair was coming out but not Eitan, she said to anyone who would listen, "Why are you doing this to my sons? They are together and you're separating them?' No one gave her an answer, but Strum clung to hope that Eitan would be released soon. Now she mostly ignores news about the negotiations, tuning out the information to protect herself. She said she raised her three boys 'as a single body,' and their support for each other is unshakable. She clasps Iair's hand as they sit together on the couch in her home and looks forward to the day Eitan returns. 'I will feel the hug of my three sons, enjoying life, each supporting each other," she said. "It will happen.'
Boston Globe
11 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Can his golf course ‘further' US-UK relations? Trump will use meeting with prime minister to try.
During his first term in 2019, Trump posted of his Turnberry property, 'Very proud of perhaps the greatest golf course anywhere in the world. Also, furthers U.K. relationship!' Starmer is not a golfer, but toggling between Trump's Scottish courses shows the outsized influence the president puts on properties bearing his name — and on golf's ability to shape geopolitics. Advertisement While China initially responded to Trump's tariff threats by retaliating with high import taxes of its own on U.S. goods but has since begun negotiating easing trade tensions, Starmer and his country have taken a far softer approach. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up He's gone out of his way to work with Trump, flattering the president repeatedly during a February visit to the White House, and teaming up to announce a joint trade framework on tariffs for some key products in May. Starmer and Trump then signed a trade agreement during the G7 summit in Canada that freed the U.K.'s aerospace sector from U.S. tariffs and used quotas to reduce them on auto-related industries from 25% to 10% while increasing the amount of U.S. beef it pledged to import. The prime minister's office says Monday's meeting will also touch on Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza, and that it hopes to welcome the Trump administration working with officials in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire. Advertisement Starmer plans to stress the urgent need to cease the fighting and work to end starvation and other suffering occurring amid increasingly desperate circumstances in Gaza. Also on the agenda, according to Starmer's office, are efforts to promote a possible peace deal to end fighting in Russia's war with Ukraine — particularly efforts at forcing Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table in the next 50 days. Protesters, meanwhile, have planned a demonstration in Balmedie, near Trump's existing course, after demonstrators took to the streets on Saturday to decry the president's visit. Discussions with Starmer follow Trump meeting Sunday with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at his Turnberry course. They announced a trade framework that will put 15% tariffs on most goods from both countries — though many major details remain pending. On Tuesday, Trump will be at the site of his new course near Aberdeen for an official ribbon cutting. It opens to the public on Aug. 13 and tee times are already for sale — with the course betting that a presidential visit can help boost sales. There are still lingering U.S.-Britain trade issues that need fine-tuning after the previous agreements, including the tariff rates Washington imposes on steel imported from the U.K. Even as some trade details linger and both leaders grapple with increasingly difficult choices in Gaza and Ukraine, however, Starmer's attempts to stay on Trump's good side appears to be working. 'The U.K. is very well-protected. You know why? Because I like them — that's their ultimate protection,' Trump said during the G7. Advertisement Also likely to improve Trump's mood is the fact that the U.S. ran an $11.4 billion trade surplus with Britain last year, meaning it exported more to the U.K. than it imported. Census Bureau figures this year indicate that the surplus could grow. The president has for months railed against yawning U.S. trade deficits with key allies and sees tariffs as a way to try and close them in hurry. Trump is set to return to Britain in September for an unprecedented second state visit. Trump will be hosted then by King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Windsor Castle.
New York Times
12 minutes ago
- New York Times
U.S. and China Meet as Trade Truce Nears Expiration
Top officials from the Trump administration will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Sweden this week for their third formal round of economic talks since President Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports to triple-digit levels this year. The primary goal is to extend a fragile trade truce that has prevented a devastating clash between the world's largest economies. The discussions are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in Stockholm. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Jamieson Greer, the United States trade representative, are leading the U.S. delegation. He Lifeng, the vice premier for economic policy, has been leading the talks on behalf of China. The negotiations come during a pivotal week for the global economy, which has been gripped by uncertainty as a result of Mr. Trump's chaotic trade agenda. The Trump administration has been trying to win concessions from many countries before an Aug. 1 deadline for reimposing tariffs announced in April. Those levies were suspended in order to reach trade deals. Over the last week, the Trump administration has announced deals with some of America's biggest trading partners in quick succession. Last Tuesday, the United States and Japan finally agreed to a deal that included a 15 percent tariff on Japanese imports and a pledge from Japan to invest $550 billion in the United States. On Sunday, Mr. Trump announced that he had also reached a deal with the European Union, a 27-nation bloc whose economies rely on exports to the United States. The deal would put a 15 percent tariff on many European exports, including cars. But one of the biggest unknowns is what will happen with China, which remains one of America's largest source of imports. After a tit-for-tat period of tariffs and retaliation, the two nations have come to something of an uneasy truce after talks in Geneva in May, and in London in June. On Sunday, before he met with European officials, Mr. Trump implied that some kind of trade arrangement with China might be close at hand. 'We just struck a deal with Japan as you know, and we're very close to a deal with China,' he said. This will be the first meeting between the countries without an imminent crisis, like the tariff standoff or China's economically crippling ban on rare earth exports this year. Trade experts said the list of potential topics for discussion was long, ranging from Mr. Trump's push to get China to stop the flow of fentanyl to the United States, to America's concerns about its purchases of Russian and Iranian oil, and recent exit bans that have prevented U.S. citizens from leaving China. U.S. officials appear to be looking forward to more ambitious trade talks in the months to come. Those could include Chinese purchases of American products, steps to open the Chinese market and, potentially, Chinese investment in the United States. They are also likely seeking to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between Mr. Trump and Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, this year. Administration officials are considering a trip to Beijing before a meeting of Asian and Pacific countries in South Korea in October, or potentially connecting Mr. Trump and Mr. Xi on the sidelines of an international meeting. Michael Pillsbury, a former government official who has advised the Trump administration on China, said this would be Mr. Trump's sixth summit meeting with Mr. Xi. Each of those summits had a minimum of two hours of dialogue, and Mr. Trump went prepared with specific deal-making requests, he said. 'The president feels it's better to deal face to face,' he said. Trade experts are also wondering whether U.S. technology controls or an agreement to transfer ownership of TikTok may be on the negotiating table. On CNBC on Thursday, Howard Lutnick, the secretary of commerce, said that the United States had submitted a proposal to China for transferring ownership of TikTok to American companies, and that the administration was waiting for the Chinese response. The topic was 'not officially' part of the trade talks, he said, 'but unofficially, of course.' Tensions between the United States and China started to spiral after Mr. Trump announced his 'Liberation Day' tariffs in early April. China was the only country to immediately retaliate, matching Mr. Trump's tariffs of 34 percent with 34 percent tariffs on American products. Beijing also set up a licensing system to restrict exports of seven rare earth elements that are processed almost exclusively in China and used in electric cars, smart bombs and other high-tech devices. Mr. Trump then responded by ratcheting up tariffs on Chinese products to a minimum of 145 percent, which brought much of the trade between the countries to a halt. The previous rounds of negotiations secured a temporary truce that included China's relaxing its restrictions on shipments of valuable rare earth minerals and magnets needed by U.S. manufacturers. In return, U.S. officials agreed to roll back limits on exports of U.S. products and technology, including ethane and airplane parts, as well as the proposed visa restrictions. U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports were scaled back to 30 percent, while China has 10 percent tariffs on American products. The truce is scheduled to expire on Aug. 12, after which tariffs would rise 10 percentage points. However, Mr. Bessent has been optimistic that the truce could be extended. In an interview on the Fox Business Network last week, Mr. Bessent said that 'trade is in a good place' with China. He added that he hoped to begin having broader discussions with his counterparts about rebalancing the Chinese economy and encouraging China to curb purchases of Russian and Iranian oil. Mr. Bessent said China was in a manufacturing slump and faced a residential real estate market crisis. He argued Beijing must focus on building a consumer economy. 'They can't export their economic problems to the rest of the world, they need to solve them,' Mr. Bessent said. U.S. companies continue to have a rash of criticisms about doing business in China, including the country's newly established rare earth licensing system. The processing time for licenses is long, American firms say, and China requests proprietary and sensitive business information as part of the applications. In a survey released this month, members of the U.S.-China Business Council said strained relations and tariffs between the two countries remained their biggest concerns. But they also said Chinese policies favoring domestic companies were eroding confidence in doing business in the country.
