DOJ names Boston in list of ‘sanctuary jurisdictions,’ says it will ‘eradicate’ policies

The Department of Justice published a list of 35 jurisdictions that officials have identified as having policies, laws, or regulations that “impede enforcement of federal immigration laws” in a statement on Tuesday.

The list of cities, counties, and states includes many Democrat-leaning communities, such as the city of Boston. Massachusetts, as a state, however, is not included on the list.

“Sanctuary policies impede law enforcement and put American citizens at risk by design,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “The Department of Justice will continue bringing litigation against sanctuary jurisdictions and work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to eradicate these harmful policies around the country.”

The Justice Department’s statement referenced an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on April 28 that accuses American states and local officials of using “their authority to violate, obstruct, and defy the enforcement of Federal immigration laws.”

The executive order directed the Justice Department to publish a list of sanctuary jurisdictions. On Tuesday, the department listed the following:

States:

• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• District of Columbia
• Illinois
• Minnesota
• Nevada
• New York
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Washington

Counties:

• Baltimore County, MD
• Cook County, IL
• San Diego County, CA
• San Francisco County, CA

Cities:

• Albuquerque, NM
• Berkeley, CA
• Boston, MA
• Chicago, IL
• Denver, CO
• East Lansing, MI
• Hoboken, NJ
• Jersey City, NJ
• Los Angeles, CA
• New Orleans, LA
• New York City, NY
• Newark, NJ
• Paterson, NJ
• Philadelphia, PA
• Portland, OR
• Rochester, NY
• Seattle, WA
• San Francisco City, CA

Mayor Michelle Wu’s office did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday, but she previously appeared before Congress to testify about the city’s policies.

“I’ve said it before Congress. We’ll continue saying it. The courts have backed us up on this as well. State law in Massachusetts, city ordinances here in the city of Boston, means that we are safe for everyone,” Wu said in April. “That requires each and every person to feel part of our community, to know that they belong and to be part of keeping everyone in our community safe.”

In June, the Trump administration retracted a list published by the Department of Homeland Security after it identified more than 500 communities as “sanctuary cities.” The administration withdrew the list after stiff criticism from the National Sheriffs’ Association, a national law enforcement group.

The Justice Department did not specifically cite what policies or laws qualify the cities as sanctuary jurisdictions, but typically, the term “sanctuary city” refers to communities that implement rules that prevent police from asking about a person’s immigration status or directly assisting federal officers with non-criminal immigration matters.

The laws do not bar local police from assisting immigration officers on investigations into serious public safety threats, such as drugs, weapons or human trafficking. Local police also do not interfere with federal immigration enforcement or deportation arrests.

Two Massachusetts cities are locked in a legal battle with the Trump administration after the federal government threatened to withhold millions of dollars in grants over their immigration policies.

Chelsea and Somerville sued the administration in February, arguing that the money they receive from the federal government should not be conditioned on cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.

The Chelsea city budget received about $14.5 million from the federal government last year. Somerville received about $19.4 million.

“The federal administration wants to pressure us,” Chelsea City Manager Fidel Maltez said after a hearing in July. “They want to force us to make Chelsea and Somerville less safe by diverting our local police from protecting our neighborhoods to becoming tools of mass deportation.”

Two weeks ago, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against New York City, Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials challenging the city’s laws around immigration.

In recent months, the Trump administration has launched lawsuits against Los Angeles, New York, Colorado, Illinois and Rochester, New York.

The mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, recently agreed to comply with immigration detainer requests from the federal government in exchange for being dropped from the sanctuary jurisdiction list.