Boston officials have defended the city’s “sanctuary” immigration policy and argued that it does not conflict with federal law in the latest lawsuit filed by the Justice Department last fall.
In court documents filed Wednesday, city officials doubled down on their efforts to have the lawsuit dismissed and respond to federal claims that the city obstructed immigration agents from enforcing the law. A federal judge in Boston is considering a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which Mayor Wu called an “unconstitutional attack” on the city.
The Trust Act prohibits city officials from collaborating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on civil immigration efforts to ensure the city’s resources are used for local priorities and “reflect the needs and values of the people and City of Boston,” the document said.
“Under the Trust Act, Boston does not participate in federal civil immigration enforcement,” the document states. “Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, it is not required to do so.”
ICE maintains separate divisions for enforcement and deportation operations and Homeland Security Investigations. The latter deals with public safety issues such as human trafficking or drug and weapons trafficking, and Boston police are free to cooperate with federal agencies on these criminal matters.
The Trust Act prohibits police from asking people about their immigration status and arresting or detaining people under an ICE executive order without criminal charges. It also prevents police from “performing the functions of immigration officers”.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department argued that the city’s policy “creates significant impediments” to ICE operations, regulates where and how immigration officers can make civil arrests and “discriminatoryly limits disclosure of information only to federal immigration authorities.”
“Further impediments to the enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws must be prevented,” the federal government said in previous court filings.
The Trust Law was first signed in 2014. The law also complies with a 2017 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Court that held that under state law, local officials cannot detain a person solely for violating civil immigration laws.
In November, city officials filed a three-page legal brief seeking to dismiss the federal lawsuit, saying it failed to state any claim that federal law preempted or overridden the Trust Act. The brief also noted that federal officials did not make any claim that the city’s laws “do not allow discrimination” or “regulate” the United States.
The latest filing states that the “mandatory” participation required by the federal government is unconstitutional.
“The federal government cannot force state and local governments to advance the federal policy agenda, but that is what the United States seeks,” the document states.
“The Trust Act only regulates city personnel; it says nothing about how federal officials carry out federal functions within the scope of their constitutional and statutory powers,” the document states.
The lawsuit names the city of Boston Wu, Boston Police Chief Michael Cox and the Boston Police Department as defendants. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell filed a legal brief in November supporting the city’s motion to dismiss.
Attorney General Pam Bondi lashed out at Boston leaders, calling the city’s mayor “one of the worst sanctuary criminals in the United States” and saying the city’s policies are “designed to undermine law enforcement and protect illegal immigrants from justice.”
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