Pam Bondi, who leads the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump, initiated a lawsuit today targeting Adams, other New York City officials, and the city itself. The lawsuit claims they have hindered law enforcement efforts due to New York City’s extreme sanctuary city immigration policies.
“If New York’s leaders won’t step up to protect their citizens, we will,” Bondi wrote in a Thursday X post.
The Department of Justice is suing New York City and Mayor Eric Adams for continuing to obstruct law enforcement with sanctuary city policies.
If New York’s leaders won’t step up to protect their citizens, we will.
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) July 24, 2025
The complaint from the DOJ highlights recent events where two undocumented individuals attacked an off-duty Customs and Border Protection officer while he was in Fort Washington Park.
The lawsuit argues that this incident could have been prevented if it weren’t for New York City’s sanctuary policies. It also references a statement from the Homeland Security Secretary questioning, “How many more lives need to be lost, or how many more people need to suffer before public safety is prioritized in some of our major cities?”
In 2011 and 2014, under then-Mayors Mike Bloomberg and Bill DiBlasio, the New York City Council expanded the policy, further restricting cooperation with federal immigration agencies, including limiting the Department of Correction and NYPD from honoring ICE detainer requests unless specific conditions were met.
