Mayor Michelle Wu is planning to defend Boston’s public security document in response to a Division of Justice letter that put town on discover that it could face penalties if it didn’t take steps to take away sanctuary polices by Tuesday.
Wu will maintain a press convention on Metropolis Corridor Plaza Tuesday to reply to the letter she and different leaders of cities, counties and states recognized as sanctuary jurisdictions had been despatched final week by U.S Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi — and spotlight insurance policies that she says makes Boston the “safest major city in the country.”
An advisory for the press occasion despatched Monday by the mayor’s workplace doesn’t get into specifics of what Wu will say. However the mayor’s remarks will doubtless mirror what she stated final week, when she indicated that town had no intention of complying with Bondi’s calls for to cooperate extra absolutely with the feds on immigration enforcement.
“Unlike the Trump administration, Boston follows the law, and it’s as simple as that,” Wu informed reporters at an unrelated occasion in East Boston Friday. “The fixed messaging that security must be imposed by an out of doors federal authorities coming in with extraordinary concern techniques is the precise reverse of what we all know to be true right here in Boston.
“We are the safest major city in the country because we are safe for everyone,” Wu stated. “Boston does not back down to bullies. Boston does not back down in the face of threats, and certainly when the threats and the tactics seem to cross the line, and seem to be against the law.”
Lawyer Normal Bondi’s letter despatched to Wu final week characterizes Boston’s sanctuary insurance policies as a risk to nationwide safety, nevertheless, by means of limiting native cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts via town’s Belief Act.
“For too long, so-called sanctuary jurisdiction policies have undermined this necessary cooperation and obstructed federal immigration enforcement, giving aliens cover to perpetrate crimes in our communities and evade the immigration consequences that federal law requires,” Bondi wrote.
“You are hereby notified that your jurisdiction has been identified as one that engages in sanctuary policies and practices that thwart federal immigration enforcement to the detriment of the interests of the United States. This ends now.”
Bondi gave Wu till Tuesday to submit a response that confirms her “commitment to complying with federal law” and figuring out quick steps to “eliminate laws, policies and practices that impede federal immigration enforcement.”
The AG’s letter doesn’t specify what penalties Boston and different sanctuary jurisdictions recognized by the feds will face ought to they fail to adjust to the federal order.
Wu talked about that town has been difficult potential federal funding cuts in courtroom. She stated final Friday that her workplace was making ready a written response to Bondi’s letter.
Bondi’s workplace declined to touch upon the mayor’s newest remarks. Wu was certainly one of 4 mayors to testify earlier than a GOP-led Congressional oversight committee final March on sanctuary insurance policies and was referred to the DOJ for felony prosecution.
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