New York State officials said on Friday that they planned to sue the Trump administration over its decision this week to ban thousands of New Yorkers from enrolling in programs that allow travelers to circumvent long lines at airports and borders.
The lawsuit would be the latest escalation in tensions between President Trump and his former home state, after the Department of Homeland Security said on Wednesday that it would block New York residents from participating in Trusted Traveler Programs, which includes Global Entry.
The decision was a response to a recent New York law that lets undocumented immigrants who live in the state obtain driver’s licenses. The statute, known as the green light law, also prohibits federal immigration officials from gaining access to Department of Motor Vehicles databases without a court order.
The Trump administration accused New York of interfering with federal law enforcement’s “efforts to keep our nation secure” by adopting the law. The administration has said it would lift the Trusted Traveler ban if New York granted them access to motor vehicle records.
The lawsuit will be brought by New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, and will argue that the federal government’s actions were arbitrary and capricious, did not provide state residents equal protection and violated the state’s sovereign immunity, officials said.
“We’re going to disclose this political intrusion into government, this ham-handed political tactic, that once again hurts New Yorkers to make their political point,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, said at a news conference in Manhattan on Friday.
New York is one of more than a dozen states that have passed laws allowing undocumented immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. Proponents say that such laws make roads safer, provide more economic opportunity and reduce immigrants’ fear of being deported for a driving violation.
Some states that have enacted the laws also have provisions to protect personal information from federal immigration officials, but federal authorities have said that none are as restrictive as New York’s.
Without directly addressing the potential lawsuit, Chad Wolf, the acting homeland security secretary, said in a statement posted on Twitter on Friday that he had spoken with the governor.
“I made clear to the governor yesterday that suspending Trusted Traveler Programs for N.Y. had nothing to do with driver’s licenses and everything to do with the breakdown in information sharing,” Mr. Wolf wrote.
The Department of Homeland Security’s decision immediately affects roughly 50,000 state residents who have applications pending for Trusted Traveler programs like Global Entry, which expedites United States Customs and Border Protection screening for international air travelers when they enter the United States. Another 175,000 New Yorkers whose memberships expire this year are also at risk.
Residents would still be allowed to participate in the Transportation Security Administration’s PreCheck program.
Mr. Cuomo did not indicate when a lawsuit might be filed, but he reiterated that he would not grant the federal government’s request for access to New York’s driver’s license database, an effort he has described as “extortion.”
“I would love to hear the depositions about their justifications for doing this and the political influence in doing this, and I would love to know if there were conversations with the White House,” Mr. Cuomo said. “New York is not his political piñata.”
The state Republican Party pounced on Mr. Cuomo for signing the green light law, which progressive Democrats passed last year after regaining control of the State Legislature for the first time in years.
“The blame for this travel document dilemma rests squarely with Andrew Cuomo,” Nick Langworthy, the chairman of the state Republican Party, said in a statement. “This is an issue of safety and security, which Democrats have zero regard for anymore.
The New York Civil Liberties Union said on Friday that it would file a separate lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, and that it had been working in conjunction with the attorney general’s office.
Ms. James, the attorney general, said in a statement that she would “fight the president’s shortsighted crusade against his former home.”
“This is political retribution, plain and simple,” Ms. James said. “And while the president may want to punish New York for standing up to his xenophobic policies, we will not back down.”
