US Sues New York Over ID Law for Undocumented Immigrants (3)

President Donald Trump’s administration is suing New York over a 2019 law that allows undocumented immigrants to obtain state identification while shielding their data from federal authorities.

The suit, announced Wednesday by US Attorney General Pam Bondi, is part of Trump’s broader immigration crackdown, including a suit filed last week against Chicago over its so-called sanctuary city policies. The cases highlight a growing legal fight between Trump and Democratic-led states over immigration, one of the top issues that propelled Trump to a second term.

Read More: Trump Administration Sues Chicago Over Sanctuary City Policy

New York Governor Kathleen Hochul and the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, who has frequently clashed with Trump in court, are both named as defendants in the suit, filed in federal court in Albany.

Mark Schroeder, the commissioner of New York’s Department of Motor Vehicles, also was sued. The DMV didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

Pam Bondi

Photographer: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg

The suit seeks to overturn the ID statute, known as the Green Light Law. The DOJ alleges the law violates the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution by interfering with federal immigration policies.

“By intent and design, the Green Light Law is a frontal assault on the federal immigration laws, and the federal authorities that administer them,” the Justice Department said in the complaint. “More than that, the law has had dangerous consequences — precisely because it has worked as intended.”

The Green Light Law essentially regulates and discriminates against the federal government, according to the complaint. The statute includes provisions that criminally bar any part of the government from sharing the DMV data with federal immigration authorities, including US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

The suit quotes the law’s sponsors to illustrate what the Justice Department calls the illegal intent of the statute.

DMV Database

Top New York state officials shot back after Bondi held a press conference to announce the lawsuit.

“Our state laws, including the Green Light law, protect the rights of all New Yorkers and keep our communities safe,” James, a Democrat, said in a statement. “I am prepared to defend our laws, just as I always have.”

In a separate statement, Hochul cast Bondi’s announcement of the lawsuit at a press conference as a publicity stunt that exaggerated the significance of what the governor described as a “routine civil action” about a law that’s been repeatedly upheld by the courts.

Kathy Hochul

Photographer: Jose A. Alvarado Jr./Bloomberg

“Here are the facts: our current laws allow federal immigration officials to access any DMV database with a judicial warrant,” said Hochul, also a Democrat. “That’s a common-sense approach that most New Yorkers support.”

Hochul went on to suggest that without the law, federal agents and Elon Musk’s government efficiency team, which is leading a vast effort to reshape the US government, could get access to New Yorkers’ data in the DMV system.

New York is one of several states embroiled in unrelated litigation against the Trump administration over Musk’s access to personal information held by the Treasury Department.

Trump has sought to crack down on what his administration describes as a “crisis” at the southern US border. The administration has accused Democratic-led states and cities of complicity by seeking to shield undocumented immigrants from federal authorities.

“DMV information is critical to keeping federal immigration officers safe,” the Justice Department said in the complaint. “From vehicle stops to border crossings to executing arrests and searches, immigration authorities depend on these records to assess real-time the situations they face and the people they encounter.”

Trump also took aim at New York’s ID law during his first term in office. In 2020, his administration blocked New York residents from joining programs that travelers use to quickly move through airport security, citing limits on federal access to state driver’s license data under the law. The move was quickly reversed amid litigation by the states, after the Justice Department acknowledged the ban was based on false or incomplete information.

The new case is US v. State of New York, 25-cv-00205, US District Court, Northern District of New York (Albany).

(Updates with filed lawsuit, linked in third paragraph.)

--With assistance from Zoe Tillman and Chris Strohm.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Erik Larson in New York at elarson4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Misyrlena Egkolfopoulou at megkolfopoul@bloomberg.net

Steve Stroth, Peter Jeffrey

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