WASHINGTON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday filed a lawsuit against New York City, its mayor Eric Adams, and several other city officials to challenge the city's sanctuary policies, accusing the city of interfering with enforcing the administration's immigration laws.

"New York City has released thousands of criminals on the streets to commit violent crimes against law-abiding citizens due to sanctuary city policies," U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.

"For too long, New York City has been at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing our immigration laws," said Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate. "Its efforts to thwart federal immigration enforcement end now."

The case was filed in the Eastern District of New York.

In the past three months, the DOJ has filed lawsuits against Los Angeles, New York State, Colorado, Illinois, the city of Rochester, New York and several New Jersey cities to "invalidate unconstitutional sanctuary policies."

The Trump administration's immigration policies sparked significant backlash in many places across the nation, particularly in states or cities governed by Democrats or widely considered "blue."

This case was claimed as "fighting back against unlawful obstruction of enforcement of federal immigration laws" by the Justice Department. ■