Border czar doubles down on promise to crack down on Boston

Tom Homan, the Trump administration’s designated “border czar,” doubled down on his plan to send federal authorities to Boston, telling Fox News that they will visit the city soon. 

“I’m looking forward to going to Boston, which is going to be real soon,” Homan said Thursday during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “We’re going to go there, and we’re going to make that city much safer.”

Homan responded to a recent clip of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu describing the Trump administration’s depiction of sanctuary cities as a “mischaracterization of what immigrant communities represent.” In the clip, Wu said she was looking forward to going to Washington to speak about Boston’s experience with the immigrant population.

“Boston can help or get the hell out of the way, because we’re coming. [Mayor Wu] is not going to stop us. We’re going to make Boston safer,” Homan told Ingraham.

Homan used similar language last year when referring to Mayor Wu’s handling of local immigration issues, telling Newsmax in November, “Either she helps us, or she gets the hell out of the way, because we’re going to do it.”

On March 5, Mayor Wu is scheduled to testify before Congress about Boston’s sanctuary policies. The term “sanctuary,” when used to describe a city or state, refers to areas that limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. 

Boston’s “Trust Act,” enacted in 2014, prevents local police from carrying out federal immigration enforcement unless the cases involve criminal acts. Since 2017, Massachusetts law has also prohibited local law enforcement from arresting or holding people solely based on a federal immigration detainer. 

While speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) last week, Homan said officials in Boston and throughout Massachusetts weren’t doing enough to remove immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally.

During his interview with Fox, Homan said federal authorities will target sanctuary cities to remove more unauthorized immigrants from the country.

Reuters recently reported that the Trump administration deported 37,660 people in the president’s first month in office.

“We need a lot more [arrests]. Especially the criminals,” Homan told Ingraham. “Sanctuary cities are slowing us down, but we’re going to work around sanctuary cities. … Sanctuary cities are getting exactly what they don’t want —more officers in their communities to arrest the bad guy.”

Morgan Rousseau

Morgan Rousseau is a freelance writer for Boston.com, where she reports on a variety of local and regional news.

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