“Sanctuary city” is a politicized term that immigration critics use to describe municipalities that limit cooperation with federal enforcement efforts.
The suit cites Boston’s Trust Act, an ordinance approved by the City Council 11 years ago, that limits the role city officials play in enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.
Wu has staunchly defended the act as one of four Democratic mayors called to testify before Congress in March, and more recently as the Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement.
“Unlike the Trump administration, Boston follows the law, and Boston will not back down from who we are and what we stand for,” Wu said at a gathering last month, where she publicly responded to a letter Attorney General Pam Bondi sent demanding the city end the Trust Act.
Wu doubled down Thursday and called the lawsuit an attempt by the Trump administration “to advance their own authoritarian agenda.”
“This unconstitutional attack on our city is not a surprise,” Wu said in a statement. “Boston is a thriving community, the economic and cultural hub of New England, and the safest major city in the country — but this administration is intent on attacking our community to advance their own authoritarian agenda.“
“This is our City, and we will vigorously defend our laws and the constitutional rights of cities, which have been repeatedly upheld in courts across the country,” Wu continued. “We will not yield.”
Attempts to reach Boston police were not successful Thursday evening.
In a statement announcing the lawsuit, Bondi said, “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.
“If Boston won’t protect its citizens from illegal alien crime, this Department of Justice will,” Bondi added.
Boston’s refusal to cooperate “results in the release of dangerous criminals from police custody who would otherwise be subject to removal, including illegal aliens convicted of aggravated assault, burglary, and drug and human trafficking, onto the streets,” the statement said.
Neither the statement, nor the complaint, cite specific examples of alleged criminals being released.
Two of the state’s leading congressional leaders strongly condemned the DOJ’s action.
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley said the DOJ lawsuit is another attempt to sow fear, punish dissent, and tear apart hard working immigrant families.
“We will not be intimidated by this administration’s illegal scare tactics, and we will not back down as they continue terrorizing our communities,” Pressley, whose district includes Boston, said in a statement.
Senator Elizabeth Warren voiced the same ire.
“Boston doesn’t back down to bullies,” she said. “Donald Trump’s new authoritarian power grab is unconstitutional — and it won’t make people safer nor make life better as he fails to lower costs for working families.”
On Aug. 5, Bondi published a list of sanctuary jurisdictions, including Boston, and vowed to sue to bring an end to “these policies nationwide.”
The Department of Justice also has sued New York City, several cities in New Jersey, and Los Angeles over similar policies, according to the government.
“Cities cannot obstruct the Federal Government from enforcing immigration laws,” the lawsuit filed Thursday said. “When that occurs, a city breaks the law. The City of Boston is doing just that.”
Up through 2015, the Boston Police Department was a “cooperative partner” with ICE’s immigration enforcement efforts, the lawsuit said.
“But every year since then — as the national crisis with illegal immigration reached its peak — the City of Boston directed its law enforcement to become obstructionist by refusing to honor any of ICE’s civil immigration detainers,” the complaint said.
The lawsuit asks that the Boston Trust Act be found invalid and unconstitutional and seeks an injunction against its enforcement.
One legal observer said the act appears to be on solid ground.
“In suing the city of Boston, DOJ once again seeks to coerce and threaten those they don’t like into submission,” said Sarah Sherman-Stokes, associate director and clinical associate professor of the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Program at Boston University School of Law.
“The Trust Act is constitutional – cities, states and municipalities have a constitutional right to limit their involvement in enforcing immigration laws,” Sherman-Stokes said in an email to the Globe.
“DOJ is unlikely to succeed,” she added, noting that a federal judge recently dismissed a similar lawsuit filed by the Justice Department against the city of Chicago.
Boston first implemented the act in 2014 and amended it in 2019. The Boston City Council voted unanimously to reaffirm the measure, which largely limits Boston police from cooperating with the federal government’s mass deportation efforts, in December.
Wu, along with other local elected officials and immigration advocates, argue that the measure helps keep Boston’s community’s safer, by ensuring all residents, regardless of their immigration status, feel safe reporting crimes and interacting with law enforcement and other local officials.
In a statement Thursday, Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune said the body reaffirmed the Trust Act at the end of 2024 to send a message that the city is committed to the policy, public safety, and Boston residents.
“That does not change,” Louijeune said. “We remain committed to following our laws and working with our local law enforcement officers to keep our city safe.”
The Trust Act also aligns with what is known as the Lunn decision from 2017, in which the state’s Supreme Judicial Court ruled that under state law, local officials cannot hold a person in custody if they are solely wanted for civil immigration violations.
Immigration advocates decried the lawsuit against Boston.
“We condemn the Trump administration’s baseless lawsuit against the Trust Act, which we know the Wu administration will fight hard for in court,” Elizabeth Sweet, executive director of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, said in a statement.
“This action by the DOJ is not about public safety and instead reflects the administration’s attacks on America’s great cities,” Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, said in a statement.
The organization “will continue to stand up for the rule of law, the people of Boston, and our elected officials who challenge this abuse of power,” Rose said.
This week, federal officials once again took aim at what they call “sanctuary cities.”
On Wednesday, Tom Homan — Trump’s “border czar” — told reporters outside the White House that the federal government would “flood the zone” in these areas with more immigration agents. “We’ve got 10,000 more agents coming on, we’re going to flood the zone,” Homan said.
“So we’re going to send the boots on the ground to the places that we know there’s a problem,” Homan said.
Homan has engaged in multiple public spats with Wu, saying earlier this year: “I’m coming to Boston and I’m bringing hell with me.”
Last month, Todd Lyons, the acting director of ICE — who is from Boston — went on “The Howie Carr Show” and said there were many members of the Boston Police Department “that are so pro-ICE, that want to work with us, and that are actually helping us behind the scenes.” Lyons also promised a larger ICE presence in the area.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez. Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold. Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio can be reached at giulia.mcdnr@globe.com. Follow her @giuliamcdnr.
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