Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s shots at federal officials during her State of the City address did not go unnoticed by President Trump and the White House, which quickly bashed Wu as a “radical” who prioritizes “violent criminal illegal aliens.”
In a statement blasted out Thursday by way of an official White House communications email, the Trump administration slammed defiant remarks the progressive mayor made around Boston’s commitment to continue protecting the city’s illegal immigrants amid the president’s vow to carry out mass deportations.
“Last night, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu doubled down on giving sanctuary to violent criminal illegal immigrants,” the White House statement said.
The press release then links to a snippet of the mayor’s State of the City speech shared on X late Thursday morning by the “Official Rapid Response Account of the Trump 47 White House.”
In the social media clip, Wu states, “We stand with immigrants. You belong here.”
“Boston doesn’t back down,” Wu said to loud applause. “We are a city where the Irish coffee is strong and our opinions are stronger. We may not always agree or see eye to eye, but at the end of the day, we are a family.
“If you come for one of us, you will get all of us,” the mayor said.
Wu was one of four big-city mayors to testify before a Congressional oversight committee earlier this month as part of the committee’s probe into sanctuary jurisdictions and their impact on public safety.
After the hearing, a House Republican referred Wu and two of the other participating mayors to the Department of Justice for investigation.
Boston’s sanctuary status is enshrined in the Boston Trust Act, a 2014 local law that prohibits city police and other departments from cooperating with federal authorities on civil immigration detainers. The policy was amended in 2019, and reaffirmed by the Boston City Council last December.
While not shared in the clip the White House release links to, Wu, in her Wednesday night speech, referenced recent remarks made by Trump’s border czar Tom Homan, who vowed to bring “hell” to Boston due to its sanctuary policies.
“We were built on the values this federal administration seeks to tear down,” Wu said. “But for 395 years and counting, come high water or hell — no matter who threatens to bring it — Boston has stood up for the people we love and the country we built, and we’re not stopping now.”
The White House email also links to a number of press releases from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, regarding arrests ICE Boston has made of illegal immigrants charged with various crimes including rape of a child, sex crimes, drugs and weapons offenses, and armed robbery.
The highlighted incidents, while involving arrests made by the ICE Boston office, were not all for crimes that allegedly happened in Boston or were allegedly committed against Boston residents.
Some of the incidents allegedly occurred in Boston, while others were allegedly committed in other parts of Massachusetts like Lawrence and Falmouth.
Nevertheless, the White House communication solely takes aim at Wu, with the headline, “Boston’s radical mayor puts violent criminal illegal aliens first.”
It also introduces the linked immigration crime press releases, by saying, “Here are just a few examples of the criminals recently arrested by ICE Boston that Mayor Wu is defending.”
The White House further cites a recent poll from AP-NORC that found 83% of adults “strongly” or “somewhat” favor “deporting immigrants living in the U.S. illegally who have been convicted of a violent crime.”
“This begs the question,” the White House email states. “Why is Mayor Wu intent on defying the will of the American people and obstructing the Trump administration’s efforts to remove these monsters from our streets?”
Mayor Wu hit back at the White House on Thursday night.
“Last night I spoke to the people of Boston about our work to improve the lives of our residents and continue Boston’s historic legacy for the public good,” Wu said in a statement. “I’m glad that the White House watched the speech, but Boston’s record does not match their reckless propaganda.
“Boston is proud to be the safest major city in the country, and we work with all levels of law enforcement every day to prevent crime and hold perpetrators accountable,” Wu said. “If the Trump administration is truly concerned about safety, they should fund healthcare and education, support our veterans, pass common sense gun reforms, and stop threatening our economy.”