Mayor Michelle Wu, joined by community members and elected officials, responds to the recent letter from the Department of Justice at a press conference at City Hall Plaza. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu shot back at U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi’s demands to expand the city’s policies to work with immigration enforcement in a letter Tuesday, condemning what she called the Trump administration’s “false and continuous attacks on American cities and millions of our residents.”
Bondi sent “demand letters” last week to Boston and 31 other cities and states that she alleges limit police cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Boston’s Trust Act allows city police to work with federal immigration officers in criminal cases, but not to carry out civil enforcement.
Wu said the city of Boston follows local, state and federal laws. She called out the administration for threatening “to prosecute local officials and illegally withhold federal grants and contracts unless Boston agrees to actively participate in mass deportations.”
In a press conference Tuesday morning on Boston’s City Hall Plaza, flanked by a few hundred supporters, the mayor responded to the pressure from the Trump administration in a fiery speech.
“ The U.S. Attorney General asked for a response by today, so here it is,” Wu said. “Stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures.”
The mayor reiterated her position that Boston is one of the nation’s safest cities because police do not pursue civil immigration violations. Instead, Wu said, immigrants here are encouraged to cooperate with police investigations into crimes.
“Our police don’t have to hide their faces,” she said, in a reference to federal immigration agents who frequently wear masks during arrests. “ Our officers keep us safe by getting to know our residents, not working to remove them.”
Wu in her letter to Bondi said local police routinely cooperate with federal law enforcement on criminal matters.
The AG’s office declined to comment Tuesday. It’s not yet clear whether Bondi will follow through on threats of federal investigations, legal action and financial sanctions for cities that meet the U.S. Justice Department’s definition of alleged “sanctuary jurisdictions.” The list includes communities that restrict information sharing with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or declare themselves as sanctuary cities, which Boston has not done. Massachusetts also does not consider itself a sanctuary state.
The Justice Department also aims to punish communities that provide immigrants with federal benefit programs, including “health care assistance, legal aid, food and housing assistance, and other subsidies.”
Wu, whose parents were immigrants to this country, said she is prepared for the consequences of noncompliance.
“There is some level of uncertainty. And the cruelty and uncertainty is the point from this federal administration,” she said. “But when we’re confronted with these impossible choices, do you stay silent and comply to try to avoid some unknown, uncertain, huge threat? Or do you take the risk but stand up for your community, for your people and for what’s right? I don’t feel that I have a choice as mayor of this city.”
A sign held by a supporter in the crowd during a press conference where Mayor Michelle Wu responds to the recent letter from the federal government demanding the expansion of the city’s policies to work with immigration enforcement. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
This is becoming familiar territory for Wu. Boston has been in the Trump administration’s crosshairs since early this year, when border czar Tom Homan threatened he was “bringing hell” to the city. And the mayor was called to testify before a Congressional panel in March, for a grilling by Republicans on Boston’s policies regarding immigrants.
On Tuesday, Wu said ICE has so far failed to provide public records about its immigrant arrests requested by the mayor’s office in June. Wu said the city will file a formal appeal and “will take legal steps if they continue to refuse transparency.”
Wu also said Boston is watching closely the Trump administration’s move to send National Guard troops into Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. “Boston stands with these cities as they sue over his abuse of power,” the mayor said. “We have reviewed those cases and we are prepared to stand up for our city’s rights if we need to.”
Josh Kraft, Wu’s leading challenger in the city’s upcoming mayoral election, released a statement that largely aligns with his opponent, saying the demand letter is “just another unhinged and bigoted attack targeting our nation’s immigrants.”
“I strongly oppose Trump’s deportation plan,” Kraft said, building on recent efforts to further separate himself from Trump, given his father’s past support for the president. “It is outrageous to think about ICE officers raiding schools or places of worship to round up undocumented immigrants who are not engaged in criminal activity.”
The press conference, which opened with mariachi musicians serenading the crowd, was attended by U.S. Sen. Edward Markey. The senator said Boston won’t be “bullied,” and that the city does not need the help of ICE or the National Guard.
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey speaks to the crowd in Boston Monday. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Boston reported 24 homicides in 2024, the lowest rate in decades; this year there have been 24 already as of mid-August.
Former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis spoke, citing his grandmother’s arrival in this country from Ireland a century ago. He said the administration’s efforts to pit police against local residents hurts law enforcement: “Everybody deserves the opportunity to have police protection, no matter who you are, no matter what your status is,” he said.
A 12-year-old U.S. citizen from East Boston, Michelle Pineda, described the stress on her family when her father was detained by ICE for two days in May. He has a legal temporary protected status, she said; her parents fled here from El Salvador many years ago.
“My parents are not criminals,” she said. “They only came to this country to seek safety and to work hard.”
Rev. Jeffery Brown speaks to the crowd gathered on Boston’s City Hall Plaza Monday. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
Rev. Jeffrey Brown, a church leader from Roxbury, urged on an enthusiastic crowd, chanting, “We are doubling down. We are not giving up on who we are. We will not compromise. We stand as one Boston.”
Haywood Fennell, a Roxbury-based advocate for veterans’ rights, put the message more sharply. “We’re not going to slow down. We’re going to mow down all the nonsense that’s coming out of the ‘dark house,’ no longer the ‘White House,’” he said. “We are ready for you, Attorney General.”