Court Rejects DOJ Challenge to Sanctuary Policies in New Jersey Cities

A federal judge dismissed on Wednesday the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit challenging sanctuary policies in four New Jersey cities, ruling the federal government lacked standing to bring the case because the alleged harms would remain even if the cities’ policies were struck down.

U.S. District Judge Evelyn Padin said New Jersey’s statewide Immigrant Trust Directive independently governs law enforcement agencies across the state by limiting voluntary cooperation with federal civil immigration enforcement. Because that directive was not challenged in the lawsuit, the judge concluded the federal government’s alleged injuries would continue regardless of what happened to the municipal policies.

The Trump administration’s lawsuit targeted immigration-related policies in Newark, Hoboken, Jersey City, and Paterson, arguing they violated the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause by interfering with federal immigration enforcement. The Department of Justice alleged the policies prevented local officials from sharing information, honoring immigration detainer requests, and assisting federal immigration authorities.

“Among much else, these cities … deny federal immigration agents access to illegal aliens in local custody; restrict local officers’ ability to hand over illegal aliens to federal agents; and bar otherwise willing local officers from providing mission-critical information to federal immigration authorities,” the complaint stated.

Jersey City Mayor James Solomon said in an email to The Epoch Times that the city “has always welcomed immigrants.”

“Our city was built by immigrants, and we will always protect our immigrant neighbors,” he said.

“This ruling is a victory for our values and cements our place as America’s Golden Door. We will continue to do everything within our power to protect our neighbors and push back against the Trump Administration’s abusive and cruel federal overreach.”

Padin noted that New Jersey’s Immigrant Trust Directive has already survived two previous legal challenges, including one brought directly by the federal government. She wrote that municipal law enforcement officers remain bound by the statewide directive even if the cities’ policies were invalidated, meaning a favorable ruling would not resolve the federal government’s concerns.

“Not only has the Federal Government failed to allege any injury has occurred, but it has also pleaded no facts that suggest it might suffer this harm in the future,” the judge wrote in her opinion.

The judge also found the government failed to identify injuries caused by provisions unique to the municipal policies that went beyond the statewide directive. While the federal government argued some city policies were more restrictive than state rules, the complaint did not identify specific examples where those differences harmed federal immigration enforcement.

“The Federal Government does not allege that any of the Cities held a serious offender and refused a detainer request from the Federal Government,” the judge wrote. “The only examples of alleged non-cooperation in the Complaint implicate the Essex County Correctional Facility, which operated by Essex County.”

The Department of Justice didn’t respond to a request for comment by publication time.

In April 2025, the Trump administration published a list of all the cities, counties, and states that had adopted policies, laws, or regulations that it said impeded enforcement of federal immigration laws.

“Sanctuary policies impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design,” then-Attorney General Pamela Bondi said at the time. “The Department of Justice will continue bringing litigation against sanctuary jurisdictions and work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to eradicate these harmful policies around the country.”

In 2025, the Justice Department filed several lawsuits against so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, saying they must comply with federal law.

The Trump administration in 2025 began posting a list of what it said were the worst criminal illegal immigrants it had detained with plans of deportation, some of whom were arrested in sanctuary cities, such as Newark.