Judge Rejects Trump Admin Challenge To New York’s ‘Green Light Law’

In February, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against the state law, claiming that it is unconstitutional because it goes against the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which says that federal laws are more important than state laws. They also asked the court not to let the statute be enforced.

The state of New York was named in the lawsuit, along with Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic Attorney General Letitia James as defendants.

In the lawsuit, the DOJ questioned three specific parts of the law. One of these parts did not allow the DMV to share a person’s records or information with “any agency that primarily enforces immigration law or to any employee or agent of such agency” without a court order or warrant.

Another rule said that anyone who has access to DMV records has to promise they won’t share the information. The part of the law that is being argued about required the DMV to let a person know within three days of getting a request for information or records from federal immigration authorities.

Nardacci admitted that the lawsuit is about immigration enforcement, which is a hot-button political issue. However, she stressed in the ruling that her job is not to judge the policy, but to see if the plaintiffs proved it violates the Supremacy Clause. Continue reading…