A federal judge has dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit seeking to overturn New York City’s sanctuary laws, ruling that the Justice Department lacked standing to challenge the policies and that its constitutional arguments failed regardless.

U.S. District Judge Ramon Reyes Jr. of the Eastern District of New York issued the decision in a 25-page ruling, rejecting the federal government’s argument that the city’s restrictions obstruct immigration enforcement in violation of the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause.

“Even if the United States has standing, and it does not, its preemption claims fail,” Reyes wrote.

The Justice Department filed the lawsuit in July 2025, arguing that New York City’s sanctuary policies interfere with federal immigration enforcement by limiting information-sharing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and restricting cooperation involving detention and the transfer of individuals into federal custody.

The DOJ also argued that the city’s refusal to honor most ICE detainers forces federal agents to arrest illegal immigrants in their communities rather than take custody of them at detention facilities, potentially increasing risks to officers and the public. According to the lawsuit, New York City’s Department of Correction honored just 4% of ICE detainers during fiscal year 2024.

Reyes concluded that striking down the challenged city provisions would not require New York officials to enforce federal immigration law. Instead, it would remove restrictions preventing city agencies and employees from using local resources to assist federal authorities, including through detentions and the sharing of personal information.

The judge also pointed to New York state law, which independently restricts local officers from making arrests for civil immigration violations without judicial authorization. As a result, he found that invalidating the city’s rules would not necessarily deliver the relief sought by the federal government.

“There is nothing within federal law that obligates states to participate in federal immigration enforcement or compels states to comply therewith,” Reyes wrote, arguing that the administration’s preemption claims amounted to “nothing more than a backdoor around the Tenth Amendment.”

New York City’s sanctuary policies date back to 1989, when then-Mayor Edward Koch issued an executive order limiting cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

The ruling comes amid a broader dispute over ICE operations in the city. Mayor Zohran Mamdani and more than 100 elected officials recently urged private parking garage and lot owners to deny ICE access to their properties for use as staging areas during immigration enforcement operations, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The request followed a shooting last week involving Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old Dominican national, during an ICE operation in Manhattan’s Marble Hill neighborhood. The Department of Homeland Security said Belgal refused lawful orders to leave his vehicle, accelerated into two government vehicles and then drove toward other officers. DHS said officers opened fire because they believed their lives and the lives of others were in danger.

The lawmakers said ICE had used two bank parking lots on Northern Boulevard in Queens and a garage on Morton Street in Manhattan to stage immigration operations. While city law already limits the use of municipal property for federal immigration enforcement, those restrictions do not cover privately owned parking facilities.

The effort to pressure private property owners received support from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both New York Democrats, along with dozens of other elected officials.

“We will continue to uphold our local laws and use every tool at our disposal to protect New Yorkers from ICE’s abuses,” Mamdani said.