This article was first published by WBUR on Aug. 19. The Reporter and WBUR have a media partnership.
Mayor Wu shot back at US Attorney General Pam Bondi’s immigration enforcement threats on Tuesday (Aug. 19), 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 US 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 and 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 morning press conference on Boston’s City Hall Plaza, where she was flanked by a few hundred supporters, the mayor responded to the pressure from the Trump administration in a fiery speech.
“Stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures,” Wu said.
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.
She said ICE has so far failed to provide the 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 the Trump administration’s decision to send National Guard troops into Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
“We are prepared to stand up for our city’s rights if we need to,” the mayor said.
The press conference, which opened with mariachi musicians serenading the crowd, was attended by US Sen. Edward Markey, who said that Boston won’t be “bullied,” and that the city does not need the help of ICE or the National Guard.
Rev. Jeffrey Brown also urged on an enthusiastic crowd, chanting, “We stand as one Boston.”
In her letters to the cities and states that she calls “sanctuary” communities, Bondi said she wants the jurisdictions cited to change their practices, from working more closely on arrests to stopping food and housing assistance for immigrants.
Bondi gave the letter recipients until Tuesday to respond. While she threatened further federal investigation and legal action, she was less clear about financial sanctions the administration may impose if the communities don’t respond.
“Any sanctuary jurisdiction that continues to put illegal aliens ahead of American citizens,” Bondi posted on X last Thursday, “can either come to the table or see us in court.”
Wu’s willingness to push back on the Trump administration has become a defining feature of her re-election campaign in the Boston mayor’s race.
Last week, National Guard members began patrolling Washington D.C. because, Trump said — despite evidence to the contrary — that the city had been “overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged out maniacs and homeless people.”
This story was published by WBUR on Aug. 19. The Reporter and WBUR share content through a media partnership.
