The mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, stated on Tuesday that the Trump administration is mistaken and that the city has no plans to follow a federal order to start removing its sanctuary protections for undocumented immigrants.
Surrounded by a huge crowd of community leaders, residents, and elected officials sympathetic to local immigration protections from federal mass deportation efforts, Wu said she was more than willing to meet the Tuesday deadline imposed for her response to a Department of Justice letter, but her cooperation ended there.
At a press conference she called on the Plaza of City Hall, Wu stated, “We are here today because last week Boston received a letter from the Attorney General of the United States on official letterhead from the federal government, threatening to prosecute city officials and withhold federal funds unless we cooperate with carrying out mass deportations.”
“This is the response that the U.S. Attorney General requested today,” the mayor added. Quit targeting our cities to cover up the shortcomings of your administration. Boston is law-abiding and will not compromise on its values or identity, in contrast to the Trump government. Our community has made us the safest city in the nation, and we won’t give up.
Wu attempted to paint the Trump administration as unconstitutionally interfering with the city government’s power to enforce public safety. Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Wu last week of breaking federal law through the Boston Trust Act, which restricts local cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
In a formal written response to Bondi on Tuesday, she also stated that the Trump administration’s persistent and untrue attacks on Boston and other towns, including its attempts to cut federal funds and send military forces into the streets, were illegal and unprecedented.
Wu said Boston was ready in case the federal government tried to interfere with the city’s law enforcement activities, citing the president’s recent deployment of the National Guard to Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
Wu added, “We also support those cities in their lawsuit against him for his abuse of power.” We have looked over such examples, and if necessary, we are ready to defend the rights of our city.
The mayor said, “The Trump administration wants to divide, isolate, and intimidate our cities and make Americans fearful of one another.” These attacks all point to the same goal. Boston will always remain a haven of liberty and a place where everyone is welcome.
Last week, Attorney General Bondi sent a letter to the mayor of Boston and other leaders of states and cities designated as sanctuary jurisdictions by the Department of Justice, directing them to reveal by Tuesday how they intended to start quickly tearing down local immigration safeguards.
Boston’s sanctuary rules are described as a national security issue in Bondi’s letter to Wu last week.
“For far too long, sanctuary jurisdiction policies have weakened this essential collaboration and hindered federal immigration enforcement, providing cover for foreigners to commit crimes in our communities and avoid the immigration penalties required by federal law,” Bondi wrote.
This is to inform you that your jurisdiction has been found to have sanctuary policies and practices that undermine federal immigration enforcement to the detriment of American interests. This ends now.
Bondi directed Wu to provide a letter reaffirming her dedication to abiding by the law and outlining the steps she will take right away to remove any laws, regulations, and procedures that obstruct federal immigration enforcement.
The AG s letter does not specify what consequences Boston and other sanctuary jurisdictions identified by the feds will face should they fail to comply with the federal order.
A Herald request for comment on Wu’s apparent intention to disregard the DOJ injunction was not immediately answered by Bondi’s office.
Her administration is expecting more attempts to reduce federal funding, prosecute the mayor criminally, and possibly try to deploy the National Guard, according to Wu’s comments on Tuesday.
Wu was referred to the DOJ for criminal prosecution after being one of four mayors to appear before a congressional oversight committee run by the Republican Party in March of last year over sanctuary policies.
“We mayors said this in D.C. almost six months ago, and I’ll say it again today: You are wrong on the law and you are wrong on safety,” Wu added, addressing all the federal officials who are targeting cities that represent variety, creativity, and moral clarity.
Despite the absence of follow-up, Wu told reporters following the press conference that she takes repeated threats seriously, even though she never heard back on whether the DOJ intended to take action on a House Republican’s recommendation for her prosecution.
Wu claimed that this is the whole force of the US federal government, which is targeting and threatening jurisdictions nationwide in an unlawful manner and in violation of federal law—and, in this instance, state and local law as well. This is a really serious issue, and we will keep advocating for Boston.
During the press conference that began with a live Spanish-music performance and more closely resembled a responsive Wu reelection campaign rally, U.S. Senator Ed Markey described the Trump administration’s decision to pick a fight with Boston’s elected leaders as political theater.
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The first Haitian-American elected to the City Council, Ruthzee Louijeune, led chants of whose city? our community and rejected as false the claim made by the Trump administration that sanctuary policies lead to increased crime.
“Every day, our immigrant communities come here, work, and contribute to our city, our community, our tax base, our hospitals, our schools, and they make our city safer,” Louijeune added. The hype and lies about crime will not be believed.
We are aware that he is failing daily and that he is exploiting the fear of crime to conceal his inability to provide for the American people.
Josh Kraft, Wu s principal mayoral opponent, took a similar tack as the mayor and her political allies, describing the feds sanctuary ultimatum as just another unhinged attack targeting our nation s immigrants, who comprise the backbone of our economy and our communities.
