Trump administration targets Boston in latest sanctuary city lawsuit
Sep 4, 2025, 3:52 PM
FILE - Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, right, is joined by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., left, as she speaks during a Massachusetts Congressional Delegation news conference regarding the impacts of the Trump administration's actions on communities across Massachusetts, March 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., File)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr., File)
The Trump administration sued the city of Boston and its leaders Thursday in its latest attempt to invalidate policies seen as interfering with immigration enforcement.
The suit alleges that Boston’s sanctuary city policies are illegal under federal law and the city’s refusal to cooperate with immigration authorities has resulted in the release of dangerous criminals who should be deported.
“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,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “If Boston won’t protect its citizens from illegal alien crime, this Department of Justice will.”
The administration has filed a series of similar lawsuits against other cities, including Los Angeles, New York City, Denver and Rochester, New York. It sued four New Jersey cities in May.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who was named as a plaintiff in the latest lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a letter to Bondi last month, she called Boston the safest major city in America and defended its law prohibiting local police from engaging with immigration enforcement absent a criminal warrant as a valid exercise of local authority.
“On behalf of the people of Boston, and in solidarity with the cities and communities targeted by this federal administration for our refusal to bow down to unconstitutional threats and unlawful coercion, we affirm our support for each other and for our democracy,” she wrote. “Boston will never back down from being a beacon of freedom, and a home for everyone.”
There is no strict definition for sanctuary cities, but the terms generally describes places that limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE enforces immigration laws nationwide but seeks help from state and local authorities to identify immigrants wanted for deportation and hold them for federal officers.
