In a sharp turn from April’s armistice, powerhouse law firm Milbank is now squaring up against Donald Trump’s administration in a high-profile immigration lawsuit—marking a fresh fault line in the ongoing clash between America’s legal elite and the former president’s policies.
The battleground this time? Newark and Hoboken—two New Jersey cities accused by Trump’s White House of defying federal immigration enforcement as so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions.” Milbank is defending both, with legal firepower that includes former acting U.S. Solicitor General Neal Katyal and ex-New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal.
It’s a bold move from a firm that just months ago pledged \$100 million in free legal services to stave off executive orders targeting law firms the administration claimed were “weaponizing” the legal system through diversity hiring and politically charged litigation.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Newark, is part of Trump’s wider war on sanctuary policies and comes as part of a coordinated legal and political campaign to bring rebellious cities in line with Washington’s immigration agenda.
Milbank’s involvement, alongside legal figures with deep Democratic credentials, puts it directly at odds with the White House, despite its earlier deal meant to avoid further scrutiny. The firm is now representing clients challenging Trump’s legal policies on multiple fronts. Katyal, for example, is also representing a former federal employee in a wrongful termination lawsuit and is leading a case brought by small businesses over Trump’s sweeping tariff policies.
Grewal, who joined Milbank from the SEC where he led enforcement, and Katyal, now heading the firm’s appellate division after leaving Hogan Lovells, give Milbank a formidable courtroom roster—one that could reshape the legal pushback against Trump’s federal maneuvers.
The case—**United States v. City of Newark et al**, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey—could signal not just a test of sanctuary city policies, but of the uneasy detente between the Trump administration and Big Law.
The gloves, it seems, are off.
