On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Source,” CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig stated that while there were missteps with the press conference earlier that day, there is “a pretty strong case here on the legal merits” against New York state over some of its immigration policies “that the state does not have the power to interfere with or undermine enforcement efforts at the federal level.”
Honig said, “I actually think DOJ has strong grounds here, legally, for what they’re asking the court to do or what it appears they’re asking the court to do. Essentially, they’re saying New York state has a bunch of laws that inhibit us, that get in the way of us enforcing federal immigration law. There’s a New York state law, essentially, that says that if immigration authorities ask for the DMV information, for the address or motor vehicle information, A. it should not be provided to the federal authorities and B. the state authorities should inform, notify, tip off the person who’s being asked about. There is a bedrock principle of law, basically, called the Supremacy Clause, that says if the feds and the states have conflicting priorities, conflicting policies, the feds should win out. And I do think — it’s hard to say what’s going to happen in the early stages of this case, Kaitlan — but ultimately, I think Pam Bondi, despite all the atmospheric missteps, I think she has a pretty strong case here on the legal merits that the state does not have the power to interfere with or undermine enforcement efforts at the federal level.”
Earlier in the segment, Honig stated that it was a mistake to announce the case before filing and that the wording of the announcement was misleading because it made it sound like the DOJ was charging officials rather than filing a civil suit.
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