WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice sued four New Jersey cities Thursday for allegedly obstructing federal immigration authorities with their sanctuary policies, The Post can exclusively reveal.

The lawsuit claims officials in Newark, Jersey City, Paterson and Hoboken have been unconstitutionally blocking the feds from coordinating with local authorities to apprehend and deport illegal immigrants.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Yaakov Roth wrote in the complaint that the local policies amounted to “a frontal assault on the federal immigration laws and the federal authorities that administer them.”

“The express purpose and clear effect of these policies … is to thwart federal immigration enforcement,” Roth said. “[E]ven where local law enforcement wants to help the United States deal with the nation’s immigration crisis, the Challenged Policies impede them from doing so.”

“This not only puts the safety of officers at risk, but also endangers the broader communities they are sworn to protect,” he added, claiming the policies violate the US Constitution’s supremacy clause.

The suit comes on the heels of a high-profile clash May 9 involving Democratic politicians at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Newark, which ended in the arrest of the city’s mayor Ras Baraka and led to federal charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ).

“Recent events have proven that these New Jersey officials care more about political showmanship than the safety of their communities,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

“As I have made clear, this Justice Department does not tolerate local officials in sanctuary cities obstructing immigration enforcement: there is more litigation to come.”

On the day of his arrest, Baraka had joined Newark City Councilmember Kenyatta Stewart — as well as McIver and her follow New Jersey Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez — to protest the reopening of the Delaney Hall ICE facility.

Acting New Jersey US Attorney Alina Habba chose not to press trespassing charges against Baraka, while accusing McIver of “assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement.”

“I have persistently made efforts to address these issues without bringing criminal charges and have given Representative McIver every opportunity to come to a resolution, but she unfortunately declined,” Habba said. “No one is above the law — politicians or otherwise.”

A federal judge admonished prosecutors over Baraka’s arrest earlier this week, calling it a “worrisome misstep.”

In a statement Friday, Baraka called the federal lawsuit “absurd.”

We are not standing in the way of public safety,” he said. “We are upholding the Constitution, providing oversight, and following the laws and guidelines of the State of New Jersey. Nothing in our policies prevents law enforcement from doing their jobs. What we refuse to do is turn our city into an arm of federal immigration enforcement, which the courts have already ruled is not our role.”

Baraka, a candidate for Garden State governor in this year’s election, added: “The comments about safety are not only offensive, they are lies meant to create political scapegoats. Immigrants are far more likely to be victims of crimes than perpetrators, and there is no evidence whatsoever that sanctuary policies make communities less safe … When people are not living in fear, they are more likely to report crimes, access healthcare, and engage with the institutions meant to protect them. That makes all of us safer.

“We will continue to do what we have always done, protect the rights of all our residents, stand on constitutional ground, and reject fear-based politics that divide communities rather than strengthen them.”

“Hoboken is a community that prides itself on its vibrancy, its cultural diversity, and its inclusivity, and we will continue to stand together as a community for what is fair and just,” added Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla in a separate statement. ”The City of Hoboken will vigorously work to defend our rights, have our day in court, and defeat the Trump Administration’s lawlessness. To be clear: we will not back down.”

The DOJ filed similar lawsuits earlier this year challenging the sanctuary policies of New York, Illinois and Colorado.

Critics of sanctuary jurisdictions have often pointed to high-profile cases of illegal migrants being released by local authorities without notifying ICE — and going on to commit heinous crimes.

A Republican-led bill blocked by New York state’s Democrat-controlled legislature last year would have mandated local authorities share arrest records and fingerprints with ICE whenever non-citizens are arrested in the Empire State.

That bill was named for Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was killed by Venezuelan gang member Jose Ibarra in February 2024 after being released despite facing child endangerment charges in New York City the prior August and fleeing the jurisdiction.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and other top Democrats in the state have maintained that local law enforcement officials can coordinate with the feds, so long as they produce a judicial warrant.

The DOJ’s New York suit challenged a 2019 state law barring inquiries into a person’s immigration status and banning the Department of Motor Vehicles from sharing personal information with the feds or law enforcement unless ordered by a judge.

President Trump has also issued executive orders to review and potentially yank federal funding to New York and other sanctuary jurisdictions — while mandating that illegal immigrants not receive public benefits.