WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday that it has filed a lawsuit challenging a New York state law that blocks immigration officials from arresting individuals at or near New York courthouses.

“Specifically, the complaint challenges a law, called the Protect Our Courts Act, that purposefully shields dangerous aliens from being lawfully detained at or on their way to or from a courthouse and imposes criminal liability for violations of the shield,” the Justice Department said in a statement.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi said New York was employing policies similar to those used by California to prevent “illegal aliens from apprehension.”

“This latest lawsuit in a series of sanctuary city litigation underscores the Department of Justice’s commitment to keeping Americans safe and aggressively enforcing the law,” she said.

Demonstrators once again took to the streets in major U.S. cities on Thursday to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

A federal judge in San Francisco will hear arguments later in the day as part of California’s lawsuit against Trump’s deployment of U.S. troops in Los Angeles.

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(Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Doina Chiacu)