Gov. Maura Healey questioned Trump border czar Tom Homan’s “fixation” on Massachusetts after he visited the state final week amid a collection of immigration-related arrests carried out by federal authorities.
Homan was on the town final week as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 370 individuals who had been allegedly residing in the US illegally. The go to got here after Homan promised to deliver “hell” to Boston and pledged to go to town throughout a speech at a conservative convention.
Healey stated she didn’t perceive “what the fixation is” on Massachusetts when requested if Homan succeeded in “bringing hell” to the state.
“To be quite honest, we’re a very safe state. We’re not a sanctuary state. Local, state, and federal law enforcement continue to work with and partner with one another,” Healey advised reporters as she walked out of a separate media interview towards her workplace within the State Home.
Healey pointed to an invite from the Trump administration to the Massachusetts State Police to attend a ceremony final week on the White Home to honor the company’s half in arresting two dozen alleged gang members in Lawrence.
“So I’m not quite sure I understand what’s going on here,” Healey stated.
In a prolonged publish Monday to the social media web site X, Homan stated he traveled to Boston final Tuesday to “kick off” a five-day operation that concerned a number of federal companies like ICE and the FBI.
Homan stated a complete of 370 “illegal aliens in Boston and surrounding areas” had been arrested.
“A majority of the 370 being significant criminals. These arrests included 6 foreign fugitives, including four who were wanted for murder or to serve a criminal sentence for murder, along with drug traffickers, child sexual predators and numerous other violent public safety threats,” Homan wrote.
He additionally went after Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Healey.
“Gov. Healey and Mayor Wu should be ashamed of supporting sanctuary policies. Releasing public safety threats back into the public, rather than working with ICE at the jails, puts the public at great risk,” he stated.
Healey stated Monday that Massachusetts is “among the safest states in the country.”
“I’ve said from the outset, we’re not a sanctuary state, that state and local police continue to cooperate with federal law enforcement, federal agencies,” Healey stated. “As a former attorney general, I can assure you that I’m doing everything I can to support the work of those in law enforcement to address issues of crime in communities.”
A spokesperson for Wu stated Monday that Boston is the “safest major city in the country” and that metropolis officers associate with all ranges of legislation enforcement to stop crime and maintain “perpetrators” accountable.
“Given that we have no information on these arrests, we cannot confirm how many took place within Boston police jurisdiction or in other cities, and we cannot confirm whether every individual was lawfully detained,” the spokesperson stated. “We strongly urge ICE to release information on all the individuals detained in order to ensure transparency.”
