Pam Bondi SUES New York and its liberal leaders over sanctuary city policies as Trump cracks down on migrants

The United States Justice Department sued New York, its governor Kathy Hochul and other state leaders on Wednesday as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. 

Newly sworn-in Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the lawsuit at her first press conference at the Justice Department.

Bondi said they were also suing New York Attorney General Letitia James and Mark Schroeder, the current commissioner for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. 

‘This is a new DOJ and we are taking steps to protect Americans,’ Bondi declared at her press conference.

She accused New York  of prioritizing illegal immigrants over U.S. citizens, stating ‘it stops today.’

It comes after the Justice Department took similar action against Illinois and the city of Chicago last week.

‘New York didn’t listen, so now you’re next,’ Bondi said. 

She warned the Justice Department is also ready to go after other states they believe are not complying with federal law.

Bondi made her announcement with a group of federal law enforcement officials and an ‘Angel Mom’ Tammy Nobles standing behind her. 

Nobles shared the story of her daughter who was killed by an immigrant and gang member who was in the country illegally.  She was also featured in a recent White House video. 

Bondi during the press conference took aim at New York’s ‘Green Light’ Law which permits undocumented immigrants to get drivers licenses while blocking federal immigration agents from accessing the data.

The attorney general said the head of the state’s DMV was specifically included in the group they sued personally because of the ‘Green Light’ Law.

When asked by a reporter what the Justice Department is seeking, Bondi said they have to see with the New York leaders do next, but she claimed they have to comply with federal law.  

The lawsuit against New York and its state leaders come just one day after the Justice Department asked federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. 

Adams had signaled he was much more willing to work with the president with his illegal immigration crackdown leading up to Trump taking office.

 Last week, the Justice Department announced it was suing Illinois, Cook County and Chicago over liberal sanctuary city policies.

They argued in the filing that the sanctuary laws ‘interfere’ with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s ability to arrest and deport illegal migrants. 

Bondi has been taking immediate action to implement Trump’s agenda after being was sworn in as Attorney General one week ago. 

She previously served as Florida Attorney General and as one of Trump’s attorneys. 

Late last year, Mayor Adams said that ‘New York City was devastated by that broken [immigration] system,’ with more than 220,000 migrants flooding the streets of the five boroughs in recent years.

‘No one has gone through what this administration has gone through, and I believe we can be very helpful in how we address this issue in a very real way.’

When pressed on how the administration is dealing with the crisis Adams emphasized the need to expedite ‘right to work’ programs which allow migrants to earn a paycheck. 

Some migrants at The Roosevelt Hotel shelter have previously said they are ‘terrified’ of being deported under Trump, with one man telling DailyMail.com he is already planning to flee the US and go to Costa Rica.

Meanwhile, Tom Homan has said that he is deeply unsatisfied with the rate at which Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are able to arrest illegal migrants residing in the U.S. 

When posed the question of whether Trump is happy with the pace of ICE enforcement Homan shot back ‘I’m not.’   

‘If you look at the arrests in interior enforcement, it’s about three times higher than it was a year ago today. Three times higher is good, but I’m not satisfied.’

‘There’s more criminal aliens that need to be arrested, hundreds of thousands, sanctuary cities are putting roadblocks up, we got leaks,’ the border czar continued, noting how some ICE operations have been foiled due to intelligence leaks. 

‘So, we need to increase the arrests of illegal aliens, especially those with criminal convictions. So, we’re going to continue. So, three times higher is good. The numbers are good. For me, not good enough. We’ve got to get more.’

Homan has been working closely with Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to crackdown on migrants in the country unlawfully and noted in a recent interview he believes he found the source of the intel leaks.

He shared that initial information gathered points to an FBI official being behind the leaks.

‘I talked to the Deputy Attorney General all this weekend. They’ve opened up a criminal investigation, and they have promised that not only is this person gonna lose their job and lose their pension, they’re gonna go to jail, they’re gonna be criminally prosecuted, so we’re all over it,’ Homan shared. 

Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem, who oversees ICE, also noted the leak this week. 

‘The FBI is so corrupt,’ she wrote on X. 

‘We will work with any and every agency to stop leaks and prosecute these crooked deep state agents to the fullest extent of the law,’ her statement continued.