WASHINGTON, Feb 13, (AP): US President Donald Trump's newly installed attorney general, Pam Bondi, went after New York leaders Wednesday over the state's immigration policies, announcing a lawsuit in the latest effort by the Republican administration to carry out the president's hardline immigration campaign pledges.

In her first press conference since taking office last week, Bondi accused New York leaders of prioritizing "illegal aliens over American citizens." Standing in front of federal agents who have been tasked with helping in Trump's immigration crackdown, she echoed the president's rhetoric as she vowed the Justice Department would take on communities that thwart federal immigration efforts.

The lawsuit against New York Attorney General Letitia James and Gov Kathy Hochul targets a state law that allows people who might not be in the US legally to get driver’s licenses. The so-called Green Light Law was enacted partly to improve public safety on the roads, as people without licenses sometimes drove without one, or without having passed a road test.

The state also makes it easier for holders of such licenses to get auto insurance, thus cutting down on crashes involving uninsured drivers. The lawsuit describes the law as "a frontal assault on the federal immigration laws, and the federal authorities that administer them." It highlights a provision that requires the state's Department of Motor Vehicles commissioner to inform people who are in the country illegally when a federal immigration agency has requested their information.

The Justice Department is asking the court to strike down the law. "This is a new DOJ, and we are taking steps to protect Americans,” said Bondi, with agents from the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Drug Enforcement Administration lined up behind her. "Millions of illegal aliens with violent records have flooded into our communities, bringing violence and deadly drugs with them.”

Bondi’s politically charged rhetoric, unusual for an institution that has historically been wary of aligning itself so directly with the White House, and the selection of legal targets raise fresh concerns that she could seek to use the agency’s law enforcement powers to go after the president’s adversaries. James, the New York attorney general, has drawn Trump’s ire by suing him, leading to a civil fraud judgment that stands to cost Trump nearly $500 million.