Trump Administration Loses Bid to Kill New York City's Sanctuary Laws

U.S. District Judge Ramon E. Reyes Jr., a Brooklyn-based appointee of President Biden, dismissed the Trump administration's lawsuit against New York City's sanctuary laws on October 15, 2026. The suit argued the city's limits on cooperating with ICE detainers endangered agents and let "countless criminals" avoid removal. Reyes ruled the federal government lacked standing and held the Constitution bars Washington from compelling city police and agencies to spend their own resources enforcing federal immigration law.

The ruling joins a string of decisions against the administration's push to force ICE cooperation in sanctuary jurisdictions, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and parts of Colorado, New Jersey and Minnesota, under the anti-commandeering doctrine. It reinforces judicial limits on how far the executive branch can reach into local governance to carry out deportation policy, a central piece of the administration's immigration agenda. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the decision a rebuke of ICE and pledged to keep enforcing the laws.

The ruling came days after an ICE agent shot a man accompanied by his five-year-old son during an enforcement stop in Marble Hill, Manhattan, prompting Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to criticize the city's sanctuary policies. It is unclear whether the administration will appeal.