WASHINGTON, Feb 13, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - US President Donald Trump's administration filed a lawsuit against New York on Wednesday accusing the Democratic-ruled state of hindering federal efforts to crack down on undocumented migrants.

The legal action comes a week after the Justice Department sued so-called "sanctuary" city Chicago and the Midwestern state of Illinois on similar grounds.

"We sued Illinois and New York didn't listen," US Attorney General Pam Bondi said at a press conference. "New York has chosen to prioritize illegal aliens over American citizens. It stops today.

"If you don't comply with federal law we will hold you accountable," Bondi said. "And if you are a state not complying with federal law, you're next."

Trump pledged during his 2024 presidential campaign to carry out the largest mass deportation of undocumented migrants in US history.

Bondi complained that law enforcement officers in New York are not allowed, for example, to check the residency status of motorists who they pull over for traffic violations.

"If (they) pull over someone and don't have access to their background, they have no idea who they're dealing with," she said.

New York's Department of Motor Vehicles also has a "tipoff provision" to "inform any illegal alien when a federal immigration agency has requested their information," Bondi said.

"It's unconstitutional, and that's why we filed this lawsuit," she said.

Bondi was accompanied at the press conference by a woman whose 20-year-old daughter was murdered by a member of the MS-13 gang who the attorney general said should not have been allowed into the country.

"No other parents should suffer by having their child murdered by somebody that shouldn't be here," Bondi said. "Millions of illegal aliens with violent records have flooded into our communities, bringing violence and deadly drugs with them."

Trump has insisted that undocumented migrants are disproportionately responsible for crime, despite research showing US citizens commit more offenses per capita.

After taking office, Trump declared a "national emergency" on the southern US border and signed an executive order stating that undocumented migrants present "significant threats to national security and public safety."

"Further exacerbating this national crisis, some of these aliens find safe havens from federal law enforcement detection in so-called Sanctuary Cities where they live and work among innocent Americans, who may later become their crime victims," it says.

Trump has long promised legal action against sanctuary states and cities, which are largely led by Democrats.