Mayor Michelle Wu hit again at ICE Director Todd Lyons’ vow to “flood” Boston in response to her refusal to strip its sanctuary protections, saying that it doesn’t make sense for the feds to focus on a metropolis recognized for being among the many nation’s most secure.
“We comply with and follow all the laws, city, state and federal, and we will not back down from the communities who have made us the safest major city in the country,” Wu instructed reporters Thursday at an unrelated occasion. “This administration must cease attacking cities to cover their very own failures.
“We know how to take care of our neighbors here in Boston without the interference, coercion, intimidation, bullying or threats from the federal government,” Wu stated.
Wu was responding on to remarks Lyons made Wednesday on the Howie Carr Present, when he stated there could be a bigger ICE presence in Boston because of the mayor’s acknowledged intention to defy a Trump administration order to take away the town’s Belief Act, which limits native cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
“We’re definitely going to … flood the zone, especially in sanctuary jurisdictions,” Lyons stated. “Boston and Massachusetts decided to say that they wanted to stay sanctuary. Sanctuary does not mean safer streets. It means more criminal aliens out and about the neighborhood. But 100%, you will see a larger ICE presence.”
Requested straight about Lyons’ vow, and what actions the town might take to counter the potential for an tried federal takeover of native legislation enforcement — akin to what’s taken place with President Trump’s crime crackdown in Washington, D.C., the place ICE brokers have reportedly appeared alongside the Nationwide Guard and federal brokers — Wu declined to take a position on a situation she stated could also be unlawful.
“I don’t need to speculate in hypotheticals,” Wu stated. “I’m not certain what these phrases truly imply when it comes to actions which can be throughout the bounds and the parameters of the legislation. We already observe the legislation. We already work each single day to make sure that individuals who commit crimes and hurt in our communities are held accountable, no matter immigration standing.
“So it, from the beginning, has not made sense how there is this extraordinary push to say this is about safety, when, in fact, in the safest major city in the country, we are already achieving progress,” the mayor added. “We need to follow the law, not only at the city level, but the federal government needs to follow the law and the Constitution as well.”
The newest forwards and backwards between Boston’s mayor and the Trump administration kicked off final week when Lawyer Common Pam Bondi despatched a letter to Wu and leaders of different cities and states recognized by the Division of Justice as sanctuary jurisdictions ordering them to “eliminate laws, policies and practices that impede federal law enforcement.”
Wu acknowledged her refusal to conform on the Tuesday deadline.
Bondi, who described Boston’s sanctuary insurance policies as a menace to nationwide safety and a violation of federal legislation, has threatened to prosecute metropolis officers and withhold federal funds ought to there be an absence of compliance.
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