The Trump administration launched a new federal immigration enforcement effort in Massachusetts focused on deporting criminals who entered the country illegally, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“ICE launched ‘Patriot 2.0’ to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens living in the state of Massachusetts, following the success of Operation Patriot in May,” a DHS spokesperson told CNN on Sunday.
The statement blamed Boston Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu for so-called sanctuary city polices that it said “not only attract and harbor criminals but also place these public safety threats above the interests of law-abiding American citizens,” vowing that DHS will arrest criminals released by local authorities.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, nowhere is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return,” the statement continued.
Wu told CNN in a statement on Sunday that local resources won’t be used for this operation and the federal government’s actions do “not make our community safer.”
“No Boston police or local resources will be co-opted into federal immigration enforcement and their mass deportation agenda,” Wu said. “That does not make our community safer. We expect that federal law enforcement will abide by the constitution and laws of this City, Commonwealth, and country, and we are prepared to take legal action at any evidence to the contrary.”
The Justice Department sued Wu earlier this month over Boston’s sanctuary policy, which limits local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration efforts.
“What we have seen from ICE and from the administration really isn’t about public safety, it’s about political theater. It’s about a political power grab and an attempt to intimidate,” said Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey in a Sunday interview with MSNBC.
White House officials told CNN that the Boston operation, timed in conjunction with the administration’s immigration plans in Chicago, is a signal of its efforts to target sanctuary cities more aggressively in the coming months.
Both the Boston and Chicago operations are being modeled after the immigration arrests in Los Angeles in June. The president has reserved the right to call in the National Guard in both cities if a peacekeeping presence is ultimately needed, officials said.
CNN reported last month that Trump administration officials had discussed a major immigration enforcement operation in Boston in the coming weeks, according to two sources familiar with the talks.
These moves to ramp up deportations in Democratic-led cities come after the Trump administration embraced aggressive enforcement actions earlier this year in Los Angeles. This week, the department announced it made 5,000 arrests in the Southern California city since June.
Wu faces a primary challenge on Tuesday from Josh Kraft, who is the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Also on the ballot are former Boston police officer Robert Cappucci and community organizer Domingos DaRosa.
Wu and Kraft are Democrats, though the position is officially nonpartisan, with all candidates running on the same primary ballot and the top two vote-getters advancing to the November general election.
CNN’s Alayna Treene and Lauren Mascarenhas contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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