NYC NOW - Midday News: Columbia Agrees to Limit International Enrollment, Federal Sanctuary City Lawsuit Faces Legal Scrutiny, and New Jersey U.S. Attorney Standoff Continues

Episode Date: July 28, 2025

The Trump administration’s new agreement with Columbia University requires the school to reduce its reliance on international students. Meanwhile, legal experts say a new federal lawsuit targeting New York’s sanctuary city laws is unlikely to succeed in court. The Department of Justice alleges the city unlawfully blocks immigration agents from enforcing federal law. Plus, the battle over New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor is heating up. The Trump administration named Alina Habba as acting U.S. Attorney bypassing a panel of federal judges who had planned to replace her. Ry Rivard from Politico New Jersey joins us with the latest.

Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Monday, July 28th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. The Trump administration's new agreement with Columbia University requires the school to reduce its reliance on international students. Miriam Feldblum is with the President's Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. She says targeting foreign students will cost universities and local economies, money, especially here in New York. We're talking about rents and restaurants, food and furnishing, all the things that students

need on a daily basis, as well as what their presence does in terms of creating jobs more broadly. About 38% of Columbia students are from other countries. Colombia says it still values their contribution and remains a global institution. Legal experts say they doubt a recent lawsuit by the Trump administration against New York's sanctuary city laws will hold up in court. The Department of Justice accuses the city of the illegally blocking immigration agents from enforcing federal law. Peter Markowitz of Cordoza Law School says the suit is like one President Trump filed in its first administration, in which the courts struck down. This lawsuit is more or less a rehash of failed Trump legal strategy, and it's, first administration where he sued the state of California based upon precisely the same theories.

The administration is seeking to avoid New York City's existing sanctuary city policies and to block them from enacting them in the future. City Hall says it's reviewing the lawsuit. Meanwhile, in Chicago, a judge struck down or dismissed the lawsuit against the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois. 87 and partly sunny. Sunny today and 90. Light wind, hotter tomorrow. feel unlike the triple digits. Stick around. There's more to come. The showdown over the top federal prosecutory in New Jersey continues. The Trump administration ahead of the weekend named Alina Haba as the acting U.S. attorney,

the Garden State, circumventing the federal judges who wanted to replace her. Rai Ravard is a reporter with Political New Jersey. He joined us last week and he's back. Right, would you just quickly walk us through the events that led us here? Yeah, so in March, the president, Donald Trump's administration picked Alina Hava to be the interim U.S. attorney. She had 120 days in that post. A group of judges, the district court judges in New Jersey exercising a power they've had basically since the Civil War, thought they could name her successor, picked a respected Republican career prosecutor who thought she was going to have the job, Desiree Grace. And then the Trump administration late last week on Thursday did a series of multi-step maneuvers that basically seems to allow Elena Haba, who is a confidant of the president, her former, his former personal attorney, to stay in the job basically through the end of the year into early next year.

And it doesn't seem like anything can be done about it, although Democrats have cried foul. Acting attorney versus interim attorney. I would say in most cases, it's the same thing. but in this particular case, it's quite a difference, isn't it, right? Yeah, there's a difference between how she's picked. Basically, what allows her to stay on the job is she replaced the career staffer in her office, who was fired after the career staffer was named to replace her, and that allows HAVA to take the job that she just held herself.

it's complicated and legal, but the long-term effect is that she can keep her job, at least for now. The Trump administration is allowed to name the federal prosecutor for individual states, but there are rules to follow to do that, right? Yeah, I mean, you know, typically to have a full term, the Senate is supposed to confirm the U.S. attorney. In this case, Trump had actually nominated Hobart to be the U.S. attorney that would need Senate confirmation, but to make her acting attorney, he had to withdraw that nomination, again, for sort of legal complex process reasons. And then the judges, you know, when there's a vacancy

that goes on for, you know, three or four months, have traditionally been able to say, hey, we like this person, they can stay, or we want to pick somebody else. During the first Trump administration, they basically rubber stamp, not rubber stamp, but affirmed the Trump administrations pick for that job, and the Trump administration didn't have any problem with keeping that person around. In this case, HABA has been controversial, particularly among Democrats, and the judges did not rubber stamp or affirm her staying around. The senators from the state, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, who are both Democrats, have pointed out that the Trump administration doesn't object to the process. They just don't like the outcome, is their argument. And the Trump,

administration has argued, well, you know, it's really should be the president or the administration that's picking these people. So it's been a clash between judges and between the president. So, right, there's been no vote. They'll Senate confirmation vote on Habba. None has taken place. Is that right? Right. And now her nomination is no longer pending before the Senate. The president could renominate her, but that's effectively a moot issue for, you know, basically through the end of the year into early next year. Do the federal judges have any say going forward here? Like, could they go to court now and challenge this whole system, this whole process,

again, this appointment? There has been speculation that they could. They could put out an order, you know, that challenges this, that questions this. We haven't seen anything from the court since late last, or since last, or since last, week. The woman who was set to assume this job, Desiree Grace, Desiree Grace, who was fired basically for getting promoted by the judges. She was fired by the Trump administration. She also has not said anything about her next steps, if any. It does look like she's out of a job. Although, you know, two U.S. attorneys could show up for work today. There's just no indication that that's what's

going to happen. Ryan Rivard is a reporter with Political New Jersey. Right, thank you. I know you're watching this. We'll probably check in with you again to get whatever the latest is. This is quite a story, Roy. Thank you. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC.

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