Lawyers for the City of New York have filed another request to dismiss a lawsuit over police department surveillance of Muslims.

In a filing earlier this week, lawyers for New York City said the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit filed in New Jersey have failed to prove the New York Police Department targeted Muslims based solely on their religion.

Muslim individuals and organizations filed the first suit to directly challenge an NYPD intelligence-gathering program that chronicled where Muslims ate, prayed and got their hair cut.

The plaintiffs say the suit should go forward because the programs targeted Muslims based solely on their religion and without any suspicion of wrongdoing.

The city’s lawyers argue the program was legal. They note New Jersey’s attorney general found that no state laws were violated.

(AP)