On June 17, 2026, the State Democracy Research Initiative’s faculty co-directors, Miriam Seifter and Rob Yablon, filed an amicus brief with six other legal scholars in United States v. New York et al., a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The appeal concerns whether the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution bars New York’s “Protect Our Courts Act” and several executive orders that limit state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
On June 17, 2026, the State Democracy Research Initiative’s faculty co-directors, Miriam Seifter and Rob Yablon, filed an amicus brief with six other legal scholars in United States v. New York et al., a case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The appeal concerns whether the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution bars New York’s “Protect Our Courts Act” and several executive orders that limit state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The federal government argues that New York’s policies are preempted by federal law and violate the judge-made doctrine of “intergovernmental immunity.” DOJ has made similar arguments about intergovernmental immunity in a range of recent cases.
The brief argues that, properly understood, the intergovernmental immunity doctrine does not prohibit policies like New York’s. The brief situates intergovernmental immunity within the broader context of other federalism doctrines and explains that it has a relatively narrow role to play in sustaining the nation’s system of dual sovereignty. While the doctrine prevents states from seeking to control or subordinate the federal government, most federal concerns about state impediments to federal policy are properly addressed through legislative preemption, not through judge-made constraints. The brief also argues that it would be especially inappropriate to expand intergovernmental immunity to reach states' efforts to protect core sovereign interests—like the integrity of their state justice systems.
A recent SDRI report explores recent state actions to limit warrantless immigration arrests at “sensitive locations” like courthouses, schools, or hospitals. Another report explores how states are increasingly turning to property law as an avenue to check ICE operations.
The other legal scholars who joined the brief are Jessica Bulman-Pozen (Columbia Law School), Bridget Fahey (University of Chicago Law School), Aziz Huq (University of Chicago Law School), Gillian Metzger (Columbia Law School), Carolyn Shapiro (Chicago-Kent College of Law), and Fred O. Smith, Jr. (Stanford Law School).