A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit the U.S. Department of Justice filed challenging a New York law that President Donald Trump’s administration said was impeding immigration enforcement.
U.S. District Judge Anne Nardacci in Albany rejected, opens new tab the Justice Department’s arguments that a New York law that restricts the ability of the Democratic-led state’s Department of Motor Vehicles to share vehicle and address information with federal immigration authorities violated the U.S. Constitution.
The ruling was hailed on social media by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat whose office defended the state’s law against what she said was a “baseless” lawsuit. She, along with Governor Kathy Hochul, was among three state officials named as defendants in the case.
“As I said from the start, our laws protect the rights of all New Yorkers and keep our communities safe,” James said.
The Justice Department declined to comment.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the lawsuit at a press conference in February as part of a legal campaign the Republican president’s administration has waged over laws adopted by so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions” run by Democrats.
The lawsuit took aim at a state law known as the Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act, or the “Green Light Law,” which the state enacted in 2019 and allowed migrants in the United States illegally to obtain driver’s licenses.
The law directed the state’s DMV to accept various foreign documents as proof of identification and age for standard licenses. It barred the state agency from inquiring about applicants’ immigration status.
The Justice Department under Trump alleged the law was impeding its ability to address a “crisis of illegal immigration”. It argued the law interfered with the enforcement of federal immigration laws in New York.
It argued the federal immigration law preempted the state law and that New York’s law impermissibly regulates the federal government in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The Justice Department asked the judge to block its enforcement.
But Nardacci, who Democratic former President Joe Biden appointed, said the administration had failed to allege the law ran afoul of the Constitution plausibly.
She said the administration could point to no federal statute requiring New York to provide DMV information to federal immigration authorities for standard license applicants.
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