On October 15, 2026, U.S. District Judge Ramón E. Reyes Jr. of the Eastern District of New York dismissed United States v. City of New York, the Justice Department's suit against the city's sanctuary laws, and judgment was entered the next day. He held that the United States lacked standing, that its preemption claims failed, and that the anti-commandeering doctrine barred relief. “The United States' preemption arguments amount to nothing more than a backdoor around the Tenth Amendment,” he wrote. He also “respectfully declines to follow City of New York,” a 1999 Second Circuit ruling, and found that two federal statutes requiring cities to share immigration information violate the Tenth Amendment.
A footnote lists 11 earlier Justice Department suits against sanctuary policies, in Illinois, New York, Colorado, Boston, Los Angeles, Newark, Minnesota, Washtenaw County, Rochester and New Jersey, and says, “In all prior cases, the United States' challenges to such provisions have been rejected” (see A Trump-Appointed Judge Throws Out the Justice Department's Entire Case Against Minnesota's Sanctuary Laws). Reyes is a Biden appointee, Fox News noted. The Justice Department did not comment.