The city of Rochester intends to ask a federal judge to again dismiss the U.S. Department of Justice’s complaint regarding its sanctuary city policy.
City Attorney Hal Kieburtz notified the court this week of the city’s intent. The city has until Friday to respond to the federal government’s complaint. The original complaint, brought in April, charged that the city’s policy obstructed federal law enforcement.
Judge Frank Geraci dismissed that complaint in November on the grounds that the complaint challenged an outdated version of the sanctuary policy, which the city had redone months earlier. Geraci, in his decision, also noted it was unclear what exactly the federal government wanted the court to do. The DOJ filed a nearly identical complaint in December.
“While state and local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement is voluntary, Rochester’s policies take that choice away from its personnel,” Alessandra Faso, acting assistant director of the DOJ, wrote in a federal filing. “This is a clear example of local policy intentionally frustrating the purpose of the federal immigration scheme.”
The case stems from a high-profile incident in March 2025, in which Rochester police assisted federal immigration agents in detaining three men from Guatemala. Ten officers were briefly taken off the street for additional training.
The city has consistently argued its sanctuary policy is protected by the 10th Amendment, and it has no obligation to aid or assist what by law are solely federal responsibilities. That includes immigration enforcement. The sanctuary policy does not stop immigration enforcement from operating in the city but rather forbids city employees from working in tandem with them.
Members of the Rochester City Council met in a closed-door session Tuesday to discuss the city’s response to the complaint.
Council President Miguel Meléndez is a named defendant in the complaint. He said the city plans to largely use the same legal arguments as in its original response, given the identical nature of DOJ’s amended complaint.
“We thought that we made solid arguments, and we will make solid arguments again, and we will have supporters that will support our arguments,” Meléndez said. “And the hope is that once this case is heard, that it's that it's thrown out.”
Rochester is also a party in another ongoing federal case brought by 34 municipalities and counties over the Trump administration’s threat to withhold federal funds to sanctuary jurisdictions. That case is led by the city of San Francisco.
