Case 1:25-cv-04084 Document 1 Filed 07/24/25
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the United States and “is charged with, is arrested for, is convicted of, admits having committed, or admits committing acts which constitute the essential elements of any burglary, theft, larceny, shoplifting, or assault of a law enforcement officer offense, or any crime that results in death or serious bodily injury to another person[.]” See Laken Riley Act, S. 5, 119th Cong. (2025) (codified at 8 U.S.C. 1226(c)(1)(E)(ii).
33. In addition, “[c]onsultation between federal and state officials is an important feature of the immigration system.” Arizona, 567 U.S. at 411. Absent any cooperation at all from local officials,” the immigration system—like other federal programs—“may fail or fall short of [its] goals[.]” City of New York v. United States, 179 F.3d 29, 35 (2d Cir. 1999). Congress has therefore directed that a federal, state, or local government entity or official may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or receiving from, DHS “information regarding the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual.” 8 U.S.C. § 1373(a); see id. § 1644 (same); see also id. § 1357(g)(10)(A) (providing for state and local “communicat[ion] with [DHS] regarding the immigration status of any individual, including reporting knowledge that a particular alien is not lawfully present in the United States”). Likewise, “no person or agency may prohibit, or in any way restrict, a Federal, State, or local government entity from,” among other things, “[m]aintaining” “information regarding the immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual,” or “[e]xchanging such information with any other Federal, State, or local government entity.” Id. § 1373(b).
34. Critically, Congress passed §1373 to fix a specific problem, after it observed “certain states and localities were restricting their officials’ cooperation with federal immigration authorities.” New York v. U.S. Dep’t of Justice, 951 F.3d 84, 96 (2d Cir. 2020); see City of New York, 179 F.3d at 35. Thus, in enacting Section 1373, “Congress sought to give state and local officials the authority to communicate with [federal immigration authorities] regarding the presence, whereabouts, or activities of illegal aliens, notwithstanding any local laws to the contrary.” New York, 951 F.3d at 97 (citations
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