Federal Judge Dismisses Justice Department Lawsuit Against New York City's Sanctuary Laws

As of 11:32 a.m. ET, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026

A federal judge in Brooklyn has thrown out the Trump administration's lawsuit seeking to strike down New York City laws that limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

U.S. District Judge Ramón E. Reyes Jr. of the Eastern District of New York granted the city's motion to dismiss in a 25-page memorandum and order dated Thursday, Oct. 15, and directed the clerk to close the case, according to the court filing. The case is United States v. City of New York, No. 1:25-cv-04084.

The Justice Department sued in July 2025, arguing that several city provisions, including sections of the city Administrative Code and a New York Police Department operations order, were "designed to impede the Federal Government's ability to enforce the federal immigration laws" and violated the Constitution's Supremacy Clause.

What the judge found

Reyes ruled that the United States lacks standing to challenge the city's limits on holding people in custody on federal immigration detainer requests. He wrote that even if the city provisions were eliminated, New York City officers would still be unable to hold someone on such a request without a judicial warrant under state law, so the court could not give the government the relief it sought. "Other actors, not this Court, hold the authority to grant the United States the redress it seeks," the judge wrote, pointing to the state Legislature or Congress.

The judge also found no standing on the government's information-sharing claims. He wrote that federal courts have read the federal statute protecting information about "citizenship or immigration status" to mean a person's legal classification under federal law, and called the government's claim that release dates and custody information fall under that language "contrary to law". Reuters reported that the ruling found federal law does not require state and local governments to share release dates, whereabouts or other custody information.

"Even if the United States has standing—and it does not—its preemption claims" fail, Reyes wrote. He concluded that the government's preemption arguments "amount to nothing more than a backdoor around the Tenth Amendment," the constitutional principle that bars the federal government from commandeering state and local officials. He also rejected the claim that the city's provisions discriminate against the federal government, finding them in line with rulings by other federal courts.

Reaction

Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the ruling "a victory for New Yorkers and a rebuke to ICE's deportation agenda" in a statement Thursday. "The court made clear that the federal government has no standing to bring this case and cannot commandeer our City workers to do its bidding," he said.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters or Gothamist. As of 11:32 a.m. ET Sunday, GROKsiNEWS.com had found no public Justice Department statement on the ruling and no notice of appeal in news reports or the public docket.

Why it matters

The New York City case is one of more than two dozen lawsuits the administration has filed against state and local governments over sanctuary and related policies, Fox News reported. Reyes' opinion cites earlier federal court decisions dismissing similar challenges involving Boston, Illinois and Minnesota. Fox News reported that suits involving Boston, Los Angeles and Minnesota have also been dismissed.

The ruling came one week after an ICE agent shot a man during an immigration enforcement operation in Manhattan's Marble Hill neighborhood, which set off protests, Gothamist reported.