The feds are suing the Metropolis of Boston over its sanctuary metropolis insurance policies after Mayor Michelle Wu instructed Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi that “Boston will never back down.”
The Division of Justice on Thursday filed a lawsuit in Boston federal court docket in opposition to the Metropolis of Boston, Wu, the Boston Police Division, and Police Commissioner Michael Cox.
“The City of Boston and its Mayor have been among the worst sanctuary offenders in America – they explicitly enforce policies designed to undermine law enforcement and protect illegal aliens from justice,” Bondi stated in an announcement. “If Boston won’t protect its citizens from illegal alien crime, this Department of Justice will.”
The Justice Division is taking purpose on the “Boston Trust Act,” which was handed by the Metropolis Council in 2014.
The Belief Act prohibits Boston Police and different metropolis departments from cooperating with ICE on civil immigration detainers.
The legislation, enacted in 2014 after which amended in 2019, permits for cooperation in prison issues like human trafficking, little one exploitation, drug and weapons trafficking, and cybercrimes.
“Cities cannot obstruct the Federal Government from enforcing immigration laws,” the Justice Division wrote within the swimsuit. “When that occurs, a city breaks the law. The City of Boston is doing just that.”
“The Supremacy Clause prohibits the City of Boston and its officials from obstructing the Federal Government’s ability to enforce laws that Congress has enacted…,” the feds wrote within the lawsuit. “The Boston Trust Act runs afoul of these constitutional principles and should be enjoined.”
The feds within the swimsuit be aware that President Donald Trump has declared a nationwide emergency on the southern border.
“In the face of this monumental crisis, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has repeatedly chosen to shield these criminals from federal law enforcement and reaffirmed Boston’s commitment to being a ‘sanctuary city,’ ” the lawsuit reads.
“In a recent letter to Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi, Mayor Wu went so far as to say that ‘Boston will never back down’ from its sanctuary city policies,” the feds continued. “Her resistance endangers public safety, resulting in a number of criminals being released into Boston who should have been held for immigration removal from the United States.”
Wu in response to the lawsuit stated the Trump administration is “intent on attacking our community.”
“This unconstitutional attack on our city is not a surprise,” Wu stated in an announcement. “Boston is a thriving neighborhood, the financial and cultural hub of New England, and the most secure main metropolis within the nation—however this administration is intent on attacking our neighborhood to advance their very own authoritarian agenda.
“This is our City, and we will vigorously defend our laws and the constitutional rights of cities, which have been repeatedly upheld in courts across the country,” the mayor added. “We will not yield.”
Final month, Wu made it clear that town had no intention of complying with a federal order to start dismantling its sanctuary protections for unlawful immigrants.
“We’re here today because last week Boston received a letter from the Attorney General of the United States on official letterhead from the federal government, threatening to prosecute city officials and withhold federal funds unless we cooperate with carrying out mass deportations,” Wu stated at an August press convention she convened on Metropolis Corridor Plaza.
“The U.S. Attorney General asked for a response today, so here it is,” the mayor stated. “Stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures. Unlike the Trump administration, Boston follows the law, and Boston will not back down from who we are or what we stand for. We will not back away from our community that has made us the safest city in the country.”
On her first day in workplace, Bondi instructed the Division’s Civil Division to determine state and native legal guidelines, insurance policies, and practices that “facilitate violations of federal immigration laws or impede lawful federal immigration operations,” the feds stated in an announcement.
On Aug. 5, Bondi printed an inventory of sanctuary jurisdictions, which included the Metropolis of Boston, and vowed to deliver litigation to finish these insurance policies nationwide.
This lawsuit in opposition to Boston is the most recent in a collection of lawsuits introduced by the Civil Division focusing on sanctuary metropolis insurance policies throughout the nation, together with in New York, New Jersey, and Los Angeles.
“According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the criminal charges on the detainer requests issued by the Boston Field Office included violent and serious crimes, including homicide, assault, larceny, and sexual and drug-related offenses,” the lawsuit reads. “Similarly, assault and drug trafficking were the two most charged offenses among those whom ICE sought to detain. Due to the Boston Trust Act, many of these criminals were released directly into Boston communities.”
Initially Revealed:
