Donald Trump has taken New York City to court after its officials "obstructed" his efforts to deport illegal migrants.
Federal prosecutors have sued both the city and its mayor, Eric Adams, for their "sanctuary policies" which restrict how far authorities can collaborate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).
Filed in Brooklyn on Thursday, the Department of Justice lawsuit claims the measures violate the US's Supremacy Clause - which establishes federal law's precedence over local bodies.
It also warns that sanctuary provisions have seen numerous undocumented criminals - who should have been deported - released into public life.
Officials said the case's goal is to "put an end to the efforts of the nation's largest city to impede the federal Government".
Attorney General Pam Bondi declared: "New York City has released thousands of criminals on the streets to commit violent crimes against law-abiding citizens due to sanctuary city policies.
REUTERS
|Donald Trump has taken New York City to court
"If New York City won't stand up for the safety of its citizens, we will," she added.
And the case comes despite how Trump's Justice Department threw out a corruption prosecution against Mayor Adams.
The department had said Adams was needed as an "ally" in Trump's immigration enforcement plan.
However, the lawsuit suggests he may have failed to live up to expectations.
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REUTERS
|The mayor has advocated for letting local police alert immigration officials when illegal migrants are arrested for violent offences
The mayor's spokeswoman Kayla Mamelak said that while he supports the essence of the city's laws, he also believed "they go too far when it comes to dealing with those violent criminals on our streets".
The mayor has advocated for letting local police alert immigration officials when illegal migrants are arrested for violent offences, yet these suggestions have failed to gain traction with city councillors.
Mamelak said the mayor has asked the city council to re-examine the rules - but to no avail.
New York is one of a string of Democrat-run areas which have vowed to not cooperate with federal immigration authorities trying to remove illegals.
GETTY | New York is one of a string of Democrat-run areas which have vowed to not cooperate with federal immigration authorities
Federal prosecutors have also filed cases against Los Angeles and Chicago, alongside the states of New York, Colorado and Illinois.
Trump himself, meanwhile, has proclaimed a national emergency along the Mexican border - and has committed to implementing widespread deportations as a cornerstone of his second term.
Speaking to GB News shortly after Trump's election win, Republican city councillor Vickie Paladino warned that NYC had been turned into a "third world country" due to illegal migration.
"We have over 220,000 illegal migrants living in our city. And now Trump is coming back and he talks about mass deportations. Hallelujah."