NEW HAVEN URGES COURT TO TOSS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S LAWSUIT TARGETING THE CITY’S WELCOMING CITY AND PUBLIC SAFETY POLICIES

[NEW HAVEN, CT] - Today, Mayor Justin Elicker announced the City of New Haven has urged a federal court to throw out a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit targeting the city's Welcoming City executive order - a local policy that directs city employees to focus on community safety instead of being forced to carry out federal immigration enforcement. Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder; the Peter Gruber Rule of Law Clinic at Yale Law School; and Public Rights Project are representing New Haven and Mayor Elicker pro bono in the lawsuit, United States vs State of Connecticut, et al, which the Trump administration filed on April 13^th against the City of New Haven, Mayor Justin Elicker and other defendants.

In its motion asking the court to dismiss the federal government's lawsuit, the city argues that it is fully empowered to make policy decisions that protect and build trust with its residents; that the Trump Administration cannot require cities to perform the federal government's job of enforcing immigration law; and that the Constitution prohibits the federal government from commandeering municipal employees and resources for the Trump administration's purposes.

"New Haven is proudly a welcoming city, and we will not be intimidated or bullied into abandoning policies that are lawful, practical, and essential to public safety," said Mayor Elicker. "Our motion to dismiss makes clear that the Trump administration's lawsuit is baseless, inaccurate, and contrary to the values that keep our community strong. We will continue to defend our residents, our city, and our right to ensure that every New Havener feels safe calling the police, seeking care, sending their children to school, and accessing critical public services."

Mayor Elicker continued, "Contrary to President Trump's assertions, we know our immigrant neighbors are overwhelmingly good, hard-working, productive members of our community who make our city stronger. Regardless, if any individual commits a violent crime in New Haven, we arrest them and bring them to justice, irrespective of their immigration status. That's what we've always done as a city - and that's what we'll continue to do as a city."

New Haven's executive order directs New Haven police and city officials to prioritize the safety and health of all residents - not carry out and be commandeered into federal immigration enforcement.

The Welcoming City executive order:

• Requires city employees to follow all federal and state law;
• Keeps city resources focused on local needs, not federal priorities;
• Does not stop federal immigration agents from operating in New Haven - it only controls how city workers spend city time and money;
• Makes communities safer by ensuring all residents, including immigrants, feel comfortable contacting police and using city services.

"The Trump Administration wants to make New Haven an arm of its unconstitutional and chaotic immigration enforcement activities. It will fail," said Chris Mattei, partner at Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder and lead counsel for the City of New Haven. "The Motion filed today affirms that New Haven's resources will continue to be used to promote the safety and welfare of our community and that New Haven will not abandon its long history as a welcoming city."

New Haven is the only municipality in Connecticut to be targeted in this manner by the U.S. DOJ.. However, the DOJ has filed more than a dozen similar lawsuits against cities and states across the country - and has lost every one that has been decided, including in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Colorado and New Jersey. A federal court recently threw out the DOJ's similar lawsuit against Boston.

"America's founding motto is 'E Pluribus Unum, From Many One.' Our city's Welcoming City Order expresses the founding philosophy of New Haven, which welcomed my own family here more than six decades ago," said Harold Hongju Koh of The Peter Gruber Rule of Law Clinic at Yale Law School. "We expect the court here to follow the many others across the country that have already dismissed, as baseless, similar Trump Administration lawsuits."

"The federal government cannot force cities to do its job," said Toby Merrill, litigation director at Public Rights Project. "When the federal government overrides those decisions, communities pay the price through strained services, reduced trust and communities that feel less safe. Courts have repeatedly rejected these attempts to undermine local authority, and New Haven is on solid legal ground. We're proud to represent New Haven in this fight."

Read the motion to dismiss here.

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About Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder PC
Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, based in Connecticut, is a nationally recognized law firm that has achieved landmark verdicts and settlements in cases involving defamation, medical malpractice, civil rights violations, dangerous products, governmental negligence, and catastrophic personal injury. The firm is committed to fighting for justice on behalf of individuals and families harmed by preventable wrongdoing. Learn more at www.koskoff.com .

About Peter Gruber Rule of Law Clinic at Yale Law School

The Peter Gruber Rule of Law Clinic focuses on maintaining U.S. rule of law and human rights commitments in four areas: national security; anti-discrimination; climate change; and democracy promotion. Projects include litigation, policy advocacy, and strategic planning matters.

About Public Rights Project

As a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, Public Rights Project helps local government officials fight for civil rights. We do this by building their capacity to protect and advance civil rights, convening and connecting them on issues of civil rights and providing legal representation to governments to help them win in court on behalf of their residents. Since our founding, we've built a network of over 1,300 partners, including elected officials and 227 government offices across all 50 states and helped recover over $46 million in relief for marginalized people. www.publicrightsproject.org