Officers throughout Higher Boston say they’re attempting to beat a great deal of “misinformation” amid President Trump’s unlawful immigration crackdown, with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu accusing Fox Information and “other celebrities” of sensationalism.
Talking to reporters at Metropolis Corridor, Wu mentioned “so many of our community members” reside in “intense and scary times,” however the Trump administration has made that “by design” and “intentional.”
The mayor pointed to how federal immigration enforcement to date beneath Trump’s new presidency has “mirrored” the actions that passed off beneath the Biden administration, prioritizing a crackdown on unlawful immigrants with violent felony backgrounds and convictions.
“They are now including Fox News being embedded … on these actions,” Wu mentioned on Tuesday, “or bringing other celebrities to document what’s happening to create a sense of greater impact with that fear and destabilization.”
Wu doubled down on feedback she made throughout WGBH’s month-to-month “Ask the Mayor” phase on Monday. In her interview with the radio station, Wu additionally known as out Dr. Phil for following together with border czar Tom Homan and federal immigration enforcement officers in Chicago.
The mayor described Fox Information and Dr. Phil following alongside as an “element of wanting to sensationalize” immigration enforcement efforts.
Wu made her preliminary feedback hours earlier than she obtained a letter from Congress calling on her to testify on sanctuary metropolis insurance policies. Town has but to resolve the way it will reply, the mayor mentioned.
Fox Information was embedded with officers from ICE’s Enforcement and Removing Operations Boston final week, documenting the company’s arrests of at the least eight unlawful immigrants throughout town and surrounding space.
Footage from a kind of arrests, of a 25-year-old Haitian gang member with 17 earlier felony convictions, went viral — with a few of Trump’s high officers celebrating the apprehension.
Greater than 3,500 unlawful immigrants have been reportedly arrested since Trump returned to the White Home final Monday, with greater than half occurring in raids this previous weekend, in response to nationwide reviews.
Homan has mentioned large-scale operations aren’t too distant.
“President Trump’s going to secure the borders as promised to the American people,” the border czar mentioned. “We’re going to enforce immigration law. So that’s what we’re going to do, without apology. We’re on board, we’re going to go forward, you’re going to see it get a hell of a lot bigger in the near future.”
A number of metropolis and city leaders throughout Higher Boston highlighted how they’re approaching conveying data to residents throughout a discussion board hosted by the Metropolitan Space Planning Council and Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition on Tuesday.
Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne mentioned her administration is attempting to arrange verification protocols to remain updated on any potential immigration enforcement exercise in her sanctuary metropolis.
Ballantyne added officers are offering residents sources to confirm data, “trying to get ahead of the misinformation by setting expectations.”
“It’s training, training, training,” the mayor mentioned. “We’re empowering our residents with information so that they can make the best decisions for themselves and their loved ones.”
Laura Rotolo, a area director and lawyer for the ACLU of Massachusetts, mentioned it’s important for “nonprofit leaders and (municipal) officials to ensure they’re not contributing to panic.”
Rotolo mentioned individuals on social media must look carefully into what’s being posted, highlighting how a current submit she noticed was of a picture of ICE exercise from a number of years in the past.
“We know that this administration has promised large-scale immigration raids, that they have promised large-scale enforcement,” she mentioned. “We have not seen that yet … but what we have seen is a lot of fear and panic especially on social media.”
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