(The Center Square) — An NYPD officer violated the city’s “sanctuary” laws by setting up a system to notify federal authorities about suspects sought for immigration enforcement, according to an investigation by the city.
The city’s Department of Investigations said it reviewed five incidents from 2024 to 2025 where the NYPD officers “interacted” with federal law enforcement. Of those cases, investigators uncovered one instance where an officer assigned to a task force with agents from federal Homeland Security Investigations violated the city’s sanctuary laws. The report said there may have been other instances of violations. The NYPD officer wasn’t named in the report.
The DOI report faulted the NYPD for not complying with documentation and reporting requirements related to requests for assistance with federal civil immigration enforcement. Investigators also found gaps in the NYPD’s current policies and practices “that raise the risk of improper information sharing or assistance to federal authorities for purposes of civil immigration enforcement,” the report noted.
DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said investigation of the police department’s compliance with “sanctuary” laws “demonstrates the complexities and challenges that NYPD faces in the current environment.”
“I thank the NYPD for its cooperation in this investigation and commitment to compliance with the laws and executive orders pertaining to federal civil immigration enforcement,” she said in a statement.
The investigation was prompted by a referral from New York City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams in response to reports that NYPD officers were helping federal immigration authorities apprehend suspects sought for deportation proceedings. Adams said the DOI’s investigation “revealed gaps in NYPD’s compliance with our city’s laws that must be addressed.”
“The incident of an individual officer violating sanctuary law and the other reviewed cases in this report are deeply troubling,” the Democrat said in a statement. “It’s critical that any agency staff who violate city laws are held accountable to send a clear message that those actions are unacceptable. The NYPD must also apply greater scrutiny to federal requests, so it is not complicit in facilitating the Trump administration’s extrajudicial practices.”
The report comes as the Trump administration zeroes in on New York City and others with sanctuary laws, including Chicago and Los Angeles, as it plans to ramp up immigration enforcement operations.
New York City was sued by the U.S. Department of Justice in July over its “sanctuary” policies that restrict cooperation with federal immigration crackdowns, accusing the city of shielding wanted criminals from deportation proceedings.
The DOJ also sued New York state in February over a state law that limits state cooperation with federal immigration authorities and again in June over the Protect Our Courts Act, which the DOJ said “shields dangerous aliens from being lawfully detained” and violates the Constitution by obstructing federal immigration operations. All those cases are still pending.
New York City officials deny that they are shielding criminal suspects from apprehension by federal authorities. In the report, Strauber said New York City’s laws and executive orders “limit local authorities’ assistance with enforcement of the federal civil immigration laws, but do not restrict vital federal and local cooperation in the enforcement of most criminal laws, striking a delicate balance that is being tested in unprecedented ways.”
