\u201cEven if the United States has standing \u2014 and it does not \u2014 its preemption claims fail,\u201d Reyes wrote in the order<\/a>. \u201cAll of the United States\u2019 preemption claims \u2014 express, conflict and field \u2014 fail because the relevant federal statutes do not regulate private actors.\u201d<\/p>\n Reyes explained that if the challenged provisions were struck, while NYC wouldn\u2019t be obligated to carry out federal immigration enforcement, the city would be barred from prohibiting its own agencies and employees from engaging in federal immigration enforcement \u2014 using its own staff, property and other resources to detain people and implement inter-agency data-sharing, \u201call potentially in violation of state law.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd of course, there is nothing within federal law that obligates states to participate in federal immigration enforcement or compels states to comply therewith,\u201d the Joe Biden appointee wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cThe United States\u2019 preemption arguments amount to nothing more than a backdoor around the Tenth Amendment and rest on a false distinction between (a) compelling local governments\u2019 participation in federal immigration enforcement and (b) prohibiting local governments from dictating how their personnel and other resources may be utilized towards federal immigration enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of New York Immigration Coalition, praised Reyes\u2019 ruling and thanked the judge for \u201cupholding our constitutional rights and the state\u2019s rights to pass laws that keep our communities safe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe always knew that the Trump Administration\u2019s lawsuit was a last ditch attempt to make an end run around the Tenth Amendment,\u201d Awawdeh said in a statement. \u201cNeither New York City nor New York State will be bullied by the federal government to give up our rights and protections.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither the White House nor the Department of Homeland Security immediately responded to a request for comment.<\/p>\n The Trump administration claims in the July 2025 lawsuit<\/a> that the city\u2019s sanctuary laws, first implemented by Mayor Edward Koch in 1989, violate the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution and make it more difficult for federal immigration officers to do their jobs by obstructing the sharing of information like release dates, court appearance dates and custodial status.<\/p>\n The suit was filed in the wake of a shooting during an attempted robbery of an\u00a0off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer<\/a>\u00a0in a Manhattan park beneath the George Washington Bridge and the subsequent arrest of two men from the Dominican Republic who entered the country illegally.<\/p>\n Thursday also marked one week since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stormed a man\u2019s car, broke his window and, while his 5-year-old son screamed in the back seat, opened fire, leaving a bullet lodged in his neck as he remains in a federal jail.<\/p>\n Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican immigrant, needs surgery to have the bullet removed but says he hasn\u2019t received any information about whether he\u2019ll be able to get the procedure this week, as doctors directed him to do.<\/p>\n Belgal also says ICE agents<\/a> ignored his plea for medical care. It was NYPD officers, arriving at the scene post-shooting, who brought a barely conscious Belgal to the ambulance.<\/p>\n According to Belgal, the ICE agents did not identify themselves or present him with an arrest warrant. DHS officials claimed Belgal \u201cweaponized his vehicle\u201d against agents trying to arrest him to justify the shooting.<\/p>\n Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing
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