Boston Trust Act
The Boston Trust Act is a municipal ordinance which ordered Boston Police Department not to detain immigrants for potential deportation unless a criminal arrest warrant had been issued for them. This marked a shift away from the Secure Communities program the city up until then been a party to since 2006, in which it had actively collaborate with federal immigration officials in detecting criminals illegally in the United States and deport them, and routinely share the department's arrest fingerprints database with immigration officials. [1] Proponents of the Boston Trust Act argued that it would improve relations between immigrant communities and the local police, making immigrant communities more likely to report local crimes to police and to cooperate with police efforts. [1] [2]
The act was sponsored by City Councilor Josh Zakim. It was passed unanimously by the Boston City Council and signed into law by Mayor Marty Walsh in 2014. [3] [4] Among the councilors in the unanimous vote to adopt the ordinance was Michelle Wu, [5] who was later elected mayor in 2021. [6] During the first Trump administration, Mayor Walsh affirmed his support for the policy. [7] The act was amended in 2019. [8] In December 2024, the Boston City Council adopted a resolution to reaffirm its support for the ordinance. [9]
Political background
The lawsuit followed several months of public dispute between the Trump presidential administration and the Boston mayoral administration of Michelle Wu in regards to the Boston Trust Act. Wu emerged as a perceived political adversary of the Trump administration and aligned Republican officials. The Second Trump administration have made so-called "sanctuary city" policies, such as the Boston Trust Act, a major target of its illegal immigration crackdown. [10]
During the presidential transition that followed the 2024 presidential election, Mayor Wu publicly noted that the city's existing 2014 law limited the circumstances in which its police officers could cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. In response to this, Trump's designated border czar Tom Homan publicly criticized Wu as "not very smart." [11] Wu responded to this,
People can say whatever they want about me. This isn’t about me. Our public safety record speaks for itself. We are the safest major city in America, here in Boston. And it’s because of the work that’s put in every day to build trust between our residents and law enforcement, and it’s because of our focus on making sure we are there when residents need us. [11]
Weeks into the second Trump administration, at the February 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference, Homan responded to an earlier news interview by Boston Police Commissioner Cox regarding the city's policies by threatening that the federal government would be "bringing hell" to the city of Boston. Afterwards, Wu posted on social media to express her confidence in Commissioner Cox. [12]
In January 2025, Wu complied with a congressional subpoena and testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in hearings about major "sanctuary city" policies and cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The hearings featured several other mayors of large American cities. [13] John L. Milcek of MassLive described Wu's performance in the more than five hours of hearings as a "star turn" for her, writing, "the Democratic mayor deftly parried jibes from Republicans who sounded like they’d never set foot in Boston". [14] Sri Taylor of Bloomberg News described the hearing as having carried "high stakes" for Wu, and credited her performance in the hearing with having garnering her a "newfound role as both a favorite foil for Republican critics in Washington and a capable messenger for Democrats," noting that while Republicans on the committee had hoped to hurt Wu's reputation in the hearings, "It was Wu who walked away with a series of sound bites defending Boston and Democrat priorities that made the rounds on social media and bolstered her national presence." [15] After the hearings, tension between the Trump presidential administration and Wu mayoral administration on this issue continued grow. [10]
In June, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent Wu and mayors of 31 other cities letters demanding they end "sanctuary city" policies or face loss of federal funding and potential legal action. Wu responded with letter and press conference in which she defended the city's policies, crediting them with building trust between local law enforcement and communities that she asserted has been integral to partnerships that have made Boston "safe and welcoming". [10]
A poll conducted by Emerson College Polling September 2–3 (immediately before the lawsuit was filed) of likely Boston mayoral election voters found 67% approval and 23% disapproval for Wu's refusal to drop the city's sanctuary city policy, marginally higher than Wu's overall job performance approval (66% approval and 24% disapproval). [16]
