The Trump administration launched a brand new federal immigration enforcement effort in Massachusetts targeted on deporting criminals who entered the nation illegally, in keeping with the Division of Homeland Safety.
“ICE launched ‘Patriot 2.0’ to focus on the worst of the worst prison unlawful aliens residing within the state of Massachusetts, following the success of Operation Patriot in Might,” a DHS spokesperson advised CNN on Sunday.
The assertion blamed Boston Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu for so-called sanctuary metropolis polices that it stated “not solely appeal to and harbor criminals but additionally place these public security threats above the pursuits of law-abiding Americans,” vowing that DHS will arrest criminals launched by native authorities.
“Below President Trump and Secretary Noem, nowhere is a protected haven for prison unlawful aliens. In case you come to our nation illegally and break our legal guidelines, we’ll hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you’ll by no means return,” the assertion continued.
Wu advised CNN in a press release on Sunday that native sources gained’t be used for this operation and the federal authorities’s actions do “not make our group safer.”
“No Boston police or native sources will probably be co-opted into federal immigration enforcement and their mass deportation agenda,” Wu stated. “That doesn’t make our group safer. We anticipate that federal legislation enforcement will abide by the structure and legal guidelines of this Metropolis, Commonwealth, and nation, and we’re ready to take authorized motion at any proof on the contrary.”
The Justice Division sued Wu earlier this month over Boston’s sanctuary coverage, which limits native legislation enforcement cooperation with federal immigration efforts.
“What now we have seen from ICE and from the administration actually isn’t about public security, it’s about political theater. It’s a couple of political energy seize and an try to intimidate,” stated Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey in a Sunday interview with MSNBC.
White Home officers advised CNN that the Boston operation, timed along side the administration’s immigration plans in Chicago, is a sign of its efforts to focus on sanctuary cities extra aggressively within the coming months.
Each the Boston and Chicago operations are being modeled after the immigration arrests in Los Angeles in June. The president has reserved the correct to name within the Nationwide Guard in each cities if a peacekeeping presence is in the end wanted, officers stated.
CNN reported final month that Trump administration officers had mentioned a significant immigration enforcement operation in Boston within the coming weeks, in keeping with two sources aware of the talks.
These strikes to ramp up deportations in Democratic-led cities come after the Trump administration embraced aggressive enforcement actions earlier this yr in Los Angeles. This week, the division introduced it made 5,000 arrests within the Southern California metropolis since June.
Wu faces a major problem on Tuesday from Josh Kraft, who’s the son of New England Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft. Additionally on the poll are former Boston police officer Robert Cappucci and group organizer Domingos DaRosa.
Wu and Kraft are Democrats, although the place is formally nonpartisan, with all candidates operating on the identical major poll and the highest two vote-getters advancing to the November normal election.
CNN’s Alayna Treene and Lauren Mascarenhas contributed to this report.
This story has been up to date with further info.
