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City Council reaffirms rules limiting how Boston police can cooperate with ICE on deportations
Under the Boston Trust Act, local police are barred from helping deport immigrants who have not had a criminal warrant issued for their arrest.
The Boston City Council unanimously reaffirmed its support for an existing ordinance that lays out exactly how local police can, and cannot, interact with federal immigration officials Wednesday.
The move comes as Democratic leaders across the country prepare for President-elect Donald Trump’s plans of mass deportation once he takes office in January.
“This resolution is just enforcing what is already on the books and what is already enforced. But I think our immigrant communities need to hear that we as a Boston City Council unanimously, together, support them via the Trust Act,” Council President Ruthzee Louijeune said during Wednesday’s meeting.
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The Boston Trust Act was originally enacted in 2014 and amended in 2019, supported unanimously by City Council both times. It is meant to strengthen trust between residents, especially immigrants, and local law enforcement by delineating how and when local police will work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Deportation plans:
Under the ordinance, the Boston Police Department is directed to collaborate with ICE only on issues of significant public safety importance, like cases of child exploitation and human trafficking. The BPD does not ask individuals about their immigration status and does not cooperate with federal authorities attempting to conduct civil immigration enforcement. BPD cannot keep immigrants in custody for possible deportation by ICE unless a criminal warrant has been issued for their arrest.
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Trump claimed victory after using dehumanizing language to paint immigrants as severe threats to the safety of everyday Americans. In the wake of the election, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said that local law enforcement agencies will not be expected or required to “participate in mass deportations of residents who have not been part of serious criminal activity just to fulfill this campaign promise.”
Wu, a former councilor herself, traded public comments with Trump’s incoming “border czar” Tom Homan about Boston’s potential response to mass deportations. Homan insulted Wu’s intelligence and warned her to either help or get “the hell out of the way.”
Trump said he is prepared to declare a national state of emergency and use the U.S. military to conduct deportations, but specifics remain scarce. While the federal government likely does not have the capacity to conduct mass deportations nationwide in the first few months of Trump’s term, his administration could target high-profile cities in blue states, like Boston, immediately. Wu and her many allies on City Council could be catapulted into the national spotlight.
Councilor Ben Weber, a worker’s rights attorney who began his legal career by representing migrant farmworkers in Texas, pushed back on narratives that suggest officials who support the Trust Act are not doing their duty. In fact, City Council is actually upholding the U.S. Constitution by enforcing this ordinance, Weber said, citing the anti-commandeering provision within the 10th Amendment.
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Councilor Julia Mejia said that the Trust Act is a necessary tool for improving public safety. When immigrants fear deportation, they hesitate to report crimes, to seek help for themselves, and to participate in community life, she said.
In 2017, a high school student from East Boston was deported after a Boston Public Schools incident report was shared with federal authorities. In the years since, immigration advocates have brought to light more information-sharing between BPS and ICE.
Speaking during Wednesday’s meeting Mejia recalled working with parents in East Boston around this time before being elected to City Council.
“We already know that it is hard to trust a government, and it’s hard to just trust the constructs that we happen to find ourselves in, but I hope that those who are listening can trust that the folks here in this body will make sure that we do everything in our power to make sure that you are taken care of and protected,” Mejia said.
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