Michelle Wu replies to attorney general\u2019s letter threatening prosecution for \u2018undermining\u2019 immigration enforcement<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Boston\u2019s mayor Michelle Wu has hit back sharply at the Trump administration<\/a>\u2019s legal threats over sanctuary city immigration policies, declaring that \u201cBoston<\/a> will not back down\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wu told a news conference outside Boston\u2019s city hall on Tuesday: \u201cThe US attorney general asked for a response by today, so here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration\u2019s failures. Unlike the Trump administration<\/a>, Boston follows the law. And Boston will not back down from who we are and what we stand for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, the US Department of Justice sent letters<\/a> to 13 states, from California to Rhode Island, and 22 local governments, from Boston to Seattle, that it has deemed \u201csanctuary jurisdictions<\/a>\u201d, threatening their leaders with prosecution for allegedly \u201cundermining\u201d and \u201cobstructing\u201d federal immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The letters warned that they could lose federal funds or face legal action if they do not assist with Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s sweeping, aggressive and highly controversial<\/a> immigration enforcement and mass deportation efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Attorney general Pam Bondi<\/a> has warned that she intends to prosecute political leaders who are not \u2013 in her view – sufficiently supportive of immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bondi\u2019s letter asked recipients to provide a response by 19 August that \u201cconfirms your commitment with complying with federal law and identifies the immediate initiatives you are taking to eliminate laws, policies and practices that impede federal immigration enforcement\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Tuesday, Wu hit back publicly. The progressive Democratic mayor was elected<\/a> in 2021 to run the state capital of Massachusetts, the first woman and first person of color to do so. At her press conference, she listed some of the what she deems the administration\u2019s failures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnder the Trump administration, groceries are less affordable, housing is harder to build, cures for cancer are farther away, and good news on our economy has been as hard to find as the Epstein list,\u201d she said, essentially taunting both the US president and Bondi about an alleged list of financial clients of the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wu\u2019s address followed a blistering letter the mayor sent to Bondi earlier in the day, in which she asserted that Boston<\/a> would not \u201cbow down to unconstitutional threats or unlawful coercion\u201d from the federal government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She also addressed the Trump administration at the news conference, saying: \u201cYou are wrong on the law and you are wrong on safety. Most of all, you are wrong on cities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump has portrayed<\/a> prominent, Democratic-run cities in recent days as being riddled with crime, following an extraordinary federal takeover<\/a> of law enforcement in Washington DC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Highlighting measures Boston has taken to tackle crime, often in partnership with federal authorities, Wu noted in her letter to Bondi Boston police department\u2019s close work with state and federal law enforcement agencies \u201cto address counterterrorism threats, protect our airport and our harbor, combat drug and human trafficking and hold perpetrators accountable for crimes\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And blasting the Trump administration\u2019s \u201cfalse and continuous attacks on American cities\u201d, Wu said cities like Boston were being \u201ctargeted by this federal administration for our refusal to bow down to unconstitutional threats and unlawful coercion\u201d. \u201cBoston will never back down from being a beacon of freedom, and a home for everyone,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n