Boston Mayor Highlights City's 'Sanctuary' Status, Says She Won't Cooperate With Deportation Of Illegals

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu speaks at the Public Mass Meeting of the 114th National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 29, 2023.

Over the weekend, Boston’s sanctuary city designation was highlighted by Democrat Mayor Michelle Wu, as Donald Trump, the incoming president, intensifies his plans to deport large numbers of illegal immigrants shortly after he enters his second term.

“The last thing we want is for people who are part of our economy, part of our school system, part of our community and the fabric of our city, to feel that all of a sudden they have to retreat into the shadows,” Wu said during an interview on Sunday, speaking on illegal aliens living in Boston.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (D) says her city will "not [be] cooperating" with mass criminal illegal alien deportations — and even suggests there may be room to "reverse or override some parts" of federal immigration law pic.twitter.com/wC08rDkeFm

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 18, 2024

When the city passed the Trust Act, which forbids Boston police from questioning, detaining, or arresting someone for non-criminal immigration enforcement purposes, Wu was a city councilor. Nevertheless, when the act was first enacted in 2014 and when it was updated in 2019, she backed it.

“The ordinance does allow police to cooperate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement on criminal investigations, like human trafficking and drug trafficking,” according to wbur, a local Boston outlet.

Boston’s sanctuary status, according to Wu, is crucial to ensuring that illegal immigrants in the city feel at ease and are thriving.

“We want immigrants to know that it is safe for everyone, to be able to feel comfortable reaching out for emergency services, to report a crime, to ask for help, and generally to be part of our community,” she said.

Trump’s deportation plans have also been resisted by other Massachusetts politicians.

According to Democrat Governor Maura Healey, Massachusetts Police will “absolutely not” help with immigration enforcement. Attorney General Andrea Campbell informed reporters that she and other Democrat attorneys general nationwide are ready to file litigation against the next administration. During her tenure as attorney general, Healey filed around 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration.

Wu added more context to her view on the situation.

“Elections have consequences, and the federal government is responsible for a certain set of actions, and cities, no individual city, can reverse or override some parts of that,” she claimed. “But what we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way, that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and and having large scale economic impact.”

Many illegal immigrants have been arrested by ICE in the Boston region in the last few years, being charged with crimes such as child sex offenses, and then released back into society.

This month, ICE declared that it had detained an illegal immigrant from Colombia who had been charged with luring a minor under the age of sixteen, distributing obscene pornographic material, and lascivious posing and exhibiting a child in the nude. According to the agency, ICE’s detainer request against him was disregarded.

ICE officers in Boston also made five arrests in March, including four suspected child rapists and a member of MS-13, a group of potentially dangerous criminals the officers claim were released  due to local sanctuary policies that rejected detainer requests.

However, it is unlikely that the Trump administration will be deterred by those states’ and localities’ lack of cooperation. President-elect Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, had a message for those jurisdictions this month.

“If you don’t want to work with us, then get the hell out all the way. We’re going to do it. What it means is, rather than send 100 people to Boston, we’re going to send 200 agents to Boston. We’re going to get the job done,” Homan said.

Meanwhile, conservative social media users highlighted the clear “double standard,” arguing that Democrat detractors of illegal immigration deportation are hypocritical.

“Democrats said we should hate Trump and shouldn’t have voted for him since he’s a ‘criminal,’ talking about his lawfare court cases, yet when it’s a foreigner breaking the law who’s actually a REAL criminal and doesn’t respect the system enough to come here legally, they want to support, feed, and house them?? Make it make sense,” posted one Truth Social user.

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