From the Associated Press: A judge has dismissed a Trump administration legal challenge to New York policies that block immigration officials from arresting people at state courthouses, saying the federal government can’t force states to cooperate with those enforcement efforts.
U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino late Monday granted New York’s motion to dismiss the government’s lawsuit, one of several legal actions from the Republican administration targeting state and local policies over immigration enforcement.
The lawsuit challenged a 2020 state law banning federal immigration officials from arresting people who are coming and going from New York courthouses or in court for proceedings unless they have a warrant signed by a judge. The law, called the Protect Our Courts Act, was approved in response to enforcement actions at courthouses during President Donald Trump’s first term. The law doesn’t cover federal immigration courts.
In its lawsuit, the Department of Justice claimed that the New York law and two related state executive orders were unconstitutional because they obstructed the execution of federal immigration authorities.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has fought against the Trump administration and it’s efforts to deport illegal aliens, is cheering victory in the case, declaring that she was fighting for the “dignity and rights of immigrant communities.”
“Everyone deserves to seek justice without fear. This ruling ensures that anyone can use New York’s state courts without being targeted by federal authorities,” James claimed.
ABOUT THIS JUDGE: Mae D’Agostino, 70, was recommended by Sen. Chuck Schumer in June 2010 to fill a vacancy on the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York. She was nominated by president Barack Obama in September of that year and confirmed by the Senate in a 88-0 vote in March 2011.
JUST IN: A federal judge has thrown out DOJ’s lawsuit to compel NY to aid in immigration arrests at state courthouses. https://t.co/ovkcNBWj1T pic.twitter.com/eipgUypDrM
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) November 18, 2025
READ MORE from the Associated Press.
A judge has dismissed a Trump administration legal challenge to New York policies that block immigration officials from arresting people at state courthouses, saying the federal government can’t force states to cooperate with those enforcement efforts. https://t.co/Ku3ZKJ8QIx pic.twitter.com/rDlThPmxL5
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) November 18, 2025
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