DOJ sues NY over immigration policy
Governor, other officials also named in filing
By: Bart Jansen
and Josh Meyer
USA Today
WASHINGTON - Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday [02/12/2025] that the Justice Department is suing the state of New York and its top officials for prioritizing "illegal aliens over American citizens."
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"As you know, we sued Illinois and New York didn't listen. So now you're next," Bondi said.
..... Bondi, in her first news conference since being confirmed, said "millions" of people "with violent records have flooded into our communities, bringing violence and deadly drugs with them," and that states like New York with permissive immigration policies were contributing to the problem.
..... Bondi announced that DOJ sued not only the state of New York but also Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and Mark Schroeder, the state's motor vehicle commissioner. Hochul's office didn't immediately respond with a statement that state law protect New Yorkers and keep communities safe.
..... "I am prepared to defend our laws, just as I always have," James said.
..... Bondi said the lawsuit targets what she called New York's policy of limiting law enforcement agencies form working with immigration authorities.
..... She brought to the dais an "Angel Mom," Tammy Nobles, whose 20-year-old daughter Kayla Hamilton, was killed in 2022 by a member of the MS-13 gang in New York "who should not have been in our country."
..... "Yet he was released, flown to Maryland, where he commuted this violent murder," Bondi said.
..... Bondi said New York policies were undermining and hindering law enforcement, including from running background checks on potentiality violent offenders in the country illegally.
..... The Justice Department on February 6 [2025] sued Illinois and Chicago, alleging their sanctuary city police were blocking federal authorities from enforcing immigration laws.
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Bondi's news conference came after federal judges temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's attempts to freeze spending, cull the federal workforce, end automatic citizenship for children born on U.S. soil, send transgender women to men's prisons and give Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency access to federal payment systems. On Wednesday [02/12/2025] night, a judge in Boston allowed a widespread buyout plan to continue.
..... White House press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said "Liberal" judges issued at least 12 injunctions against the administration the previous two weeks. Trump said Tuesday [02/11/2025] that he would obey the rulings, but would seek every legal remedy possible to overturn adverse decisions.
..... "Each injunction is an abuse of the rule of law and an attempt to thwart the will of the people," Leavitt said.
..... Bondi said justiciable impeachments, which Trump aide Elon Musk suggested, are :not going to be happening now."
..... "We're going to follow the law right now. We're going to follow the process", Bondi said. "these are federal judges with lifetime appointments, But they will be struck down ultimately by the Supreme court of the United States if the appellate courts don't follow the law as well."
..... Democrats questioned whether Bondi could act independently form Trump's priorities, but she said politics wouldn't pay a role in her overseeing the department.
..... "Politics will not play a part," Bondie said at her confirmation hearing. "I've demonstrate that my entire career as a prosecutor, as attorney general and I will continue to do that."