‘Now, you’re next’: NY governor scoffs at AG Bondi’s ‘worthless’ immigration lawsuit, calls it ‘smoke and mirrors’

Left: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at a news conference in Long Island on Feb. 12, 2025 (YouTube). Right: U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announces lawsuit against New York

Left: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at a news conference in Long Island on Feb. 12, 2025 (YouTube). Right: U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announces lawsuit against New York’s immigration policies from Washington, D.C. on Feb. 12, 2025 (YouTube).

While the Trump administration has been targeted by a flurry of lawsuits challenging executive orders, firings, and other actions, the president’s Justice Department went on the offensive Wednesday with newly-confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi announcing she was suing New York over its immigration laws.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, accuses the Empire State of unconstitutionally obstructing the federal government’s crackdown on illegal immigration, which was one of the pillars of President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign.

The complaint focuses on New York’s 2019 Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act, which is also known as the “Green Light Law.” The measure allows immigrants in the country illegally to obtain driver’s licenses while also prohibiting sheriff’s offices in the state from providing federal immigration agencies with data from the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles.

The licenses issued under the law are drive-only, meaning that the holders of such licenses understand traffic laws and can properly operate a vehicle. The licenses cannot be used for other purposes, such as registering to vote.

The suit also claims that the law “requires” the DMV commissioner to ” promptly tip off any illegal alien when a federal immigration agency has requested his or her information.”

“The United States is currently facing a crisis of illegal immigration,” the complaint states, citing to the executive order Trump signed on his first day in office. “And the Federal Government is set to put a stop to it. While States are welcome partners in that effort, it is their prerogative as separate sovereigns to refrain. But a State’s freedom to stand aside is not a freedom to stand in the way. And where inaction crosses into obstruction, a State breaks the law. The State of New York is doing just that. It must be stopped.”