DOJ Suit to Strike Down NY Law Shielding Driver Data from ICE Dismissed
By Reuters | 23 Dec, 2025

A US District Court rejected the Trump administration argument that a New York state law restricting the DMV from sharing driver data with federal authorities is unconstitutional.

New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks to the media outside the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S., October 24, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit the U.S. Department of Justice filed challenging a New York law that President Donald Trump's administration said was impeding immigration enforcement.

U.S. District Judge Anne Nardacci in Albany rejected the Justice Department's arguments that a New York law that restricts the ability of the Democratic-led state's Department of Motor Vehicles to share vehicle and address information with federal immigration authorities violated the U.S. Constitution.

The ruling was hailed on social media by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat whose office defended the state's law against what she said was a "baseless" lawsuit. She, along with Governor Kathy Hochul, was among three state officials named as defendants in the case.

"As I said from the start, our laws protect the rights of all New Yorkers and keep our communities safe," James said.

The Justice Department declined to comment.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the lawsuit at a press conference in February as part of a legal campaign the Republican president's administration has waged over laws adopted by so-called "sanctuary jurisdictions" run by Democrats.

The lawsuit took aim at a state law known as the Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act, or the "Green Light Law," which the state enacted in 2019 and allowed migrants in the United States illegally to obtain driver's licenses.

The law directed the state's DMV to accept various foreign documents as proof of identification and age for standard licenses and barred the state agency from inquiring about the immigration status of applicants.

The Justice Department under Trump alleged the law was impeding its ability to address a "crisis of illegal immigration" and argued the law interfered with the enforcement of federal immigration laws in New York.

It argued the federal immigration law preempted the state law and that New York's law impermissibly regulates the federal government in violation of the U.S. Constitution. The Justice Department asked the judge to block its enforcement.

But Nardacci, who was appointed by Democratic former President Joe Biden, said the administration had failed to plausibly allege the law ran afoul of the Constitution. 

She said the administration could point to no federal statute requiring New York to provide DMV information for standard license applicants to federal immigration authorities.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; additional reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by Chris Reese and Nia Williams)