New York’s mayor celebrated the ruling and said: ‘Our city belongs to all of us, and we will not abandon our neighbors’
A federal court dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration against New York City’s sanctuary laws on Thursday as the city’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, heralded the loss, saying he would not allow the government to “use fear to divide our city”.
The ruling marks the latest defeat for the federal government, as it sues cities and states over legal protections for immigrants. Federal courts in Los Angeles, Chicago and Minnesota have thrown out similar lawsuits over the last two years.
The US district judge Ramón E Reyes Jr affirmed in Thursday’s ruling that “there is nothing within federal law that obligates states to participate in federal immigration enforcement or compels states to comply”. He argued that the city’s agencies couldn’t be forced into using their resources to enforce civil immigration laws, and rejected the Trump administration’s argument that local officials were illegally obstructing its immigration agenda.
Want more good news?
Find more news about resistance, victories, and hopeful trends: weekly Extra! Extra! posts from Chop Wood, Carry Water; biweekly Just Good News posts from the Americans of Conscience Checklist; and Your Daily Dose of Climate Hope - plus pro-democracy protest photos every day from Today's Edition Newsletter.
