The city called the lawsuit a “political theatre” and accused the Trump administration of “trying to direct local resources.”
On April 24, the Trump administration filed a lawsuit alleging that the city of Rochester, New York, violated constitutional and federal law through multiple policies, except in cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
In a statement posted on the city’s website, they said: “The city aims to defend the legality of its policy and use this opportunity to impose a federal appointment and prevent local resources from being directed in violation of the 10th amendment of the Constitution.”
The 10th Amendment generally reserves certain state powers, saying that “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution are not thereby prohibited by the state, but are reserved to the state or the citizens, respectively.”
The Trump administration has accused the city of violating the constitution’s hegemony clause. It pointed to two policies from the Rochester Police Department, which restricted cooperation, including information sharing with federal authorities.
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They said these policies “violate the superiority clause, interfere with federal law, and create obstacles to federal immigration enforcement.” It pointed to federal laws prohibiting restrictions on information sharing regarding the status of individual immigration.
The Justice Department not only asks federal judges to declare Rochester’s policies unconstitutional, but it is also contrary to federal law and therefore invalid.
Like Evans, Orick cited the 10th Amendment, saying that the Frozen Federal Funding imposed “forced conditions aimed at directing local officials to enforce federal immigration practices and laws.”
The Rochester lawsuit is the latest move by the Trump administration, seeking to increase immigration enforcement.
The Justice Department lawsuit said the country’s efforts to face the “illicit immigration crisis” are being “stricken by sanctuary cities such as the city of Rochester.”
