Last week, Attorney General Pam Bondi, fresh from straightening out the impasse on ICE enforcement in the sanctuary city known as the District of Columbia – they will henceforth be fully cooperative – fired off a letter to tens of cities and several governors, warning them they were next on her ‘to-do’ list.
Bondi was tired of federal immigration enforcement officers literally having to fight city halls across the country simply to do their lawful jobs, and laid out in no uncertain terms what she expected from the mayors. The AG also set a timeline for receiving an answer from said obstinate progressive mayors containing their plans for cooperating with the federal government on enforcing federal statutes.
All in all, it was a pretty unambiguous communication.
Boston, other ‘sanctuary jurisdictions’ get immigration enforcement ultimatum
“By Tuesday, August 19, 2025, please submit a response to this letter that confirms your commitment to complying with federal law and identifies the immediate initiatives you are taking to eliminate laws, policies, and practices that impede federal immigration enforcement.”
The ‘or else’ was also plainly spelled out, just in case these elected officials thought there was yet more wiggle room for grandstanding. Wu still managed to wiggle some bravado for the press upon receipt of the letter.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has put Boston on notice: Cooperate with the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown or else.
Why it matters: Boston is one of 32 cities the Trump administration is going after for having policies that restrict local police cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
…What they’re saying: “Any sanctuary jurisdiction that continues to put illegal aliens ahead of American citizens can either come to the table or see us in court,” Bondi wrote on X Thursday, announcing the “demand letters.”
The other side: “Unlike the Trump administration,” Wu said in a statement to Axios, “Boston follows the law.“
And then reiterated her stand in an interview.
BOSTON DOESN’T BACK DOWN TO BULLIES
NEW: Boston @MayorWu sends a sharp rebuke to the Trump administration.
“Boston does not back down to bullies.“
This comes as the Trump administration has given Wu until Tuesday to explain how she plans to stop shielding illegals
Watch below pic.twitter.com/yvD3RmNC4G
— Bostonians Against Mayor Wu (@AntiWuCoalition) August 18, 2025
But Wu still had to officially answer Bondi’s demand letter by yesterday.
Lucky thing the AG gave her a week, because it took that long for Mayor Wu to…
ROUND UP THE RESISTANCE MARIACHI BAND!
They are singing again…
Democrat mayor Michelle Wu opened her Boston press conference today in response to Trump’s crackdown on crime with singing. pic.twitter.com/ZxBuZUkTdN— The Constitutional Conservative (@TheCCShowcast) August 19, 2025
Wu must have crawled through some of her college papers for fiery, defiant resistance language to spew at the federal government, surrounded by like-minded, well-to-do Bostonians when she did so.
With that Beacon Hill Skeletor Ed Markey standing behind her, Wu boldly threw down the revolutionary rhetoric.
YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF US, BLONDIE
BOSTON MAYOR: “The US Attorney General asked for a response by today, so here it is. Stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures.”pic.twitter.com/2ebSjDaYPf
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 19, 2025
Quit picking on ‘lil ol’ Boston and mind yer own bees wax.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu made it clear Tuesday that the city has no intention of complying with a federal order to begin dismantling its sanctuary protections for illegal immigrants, saying that the Trump administration is “wrong” on the issue.
Surrounded by a huge crowd of community leaders, residents, and elected officials sympathetic to local immigration protections from federal mass deportation efforts, Wu said she was more than willing to meet the Tuesday deadline imposed for her response to a Department of Justice letter, but her cooperation ended there.
“We’re here today because last week Boston received a letter from the Attorney General of the United States on official letterhead from the federal government, threatening to prosecute city officials and withhold federal funds unless we cooperate with carrying out mass deportations,” Wu said at a press conference she convened on City Hall Plaza.
¡VIVA LA REVOLUCIÓN!
…“We also stand with those cities as they sue over his abuse of power,” Wu said. “We have reviewed those cases and we are prepared to stand up for our city’s rights if we need to.
“These attacks all come back to a common aim: The Trump administration seeks to divide, isolate and intimidate our cities and make Americans fearful of one another,” the mayor added. “Boston will never back down from being a beacon of freedom and a home for everyone.”
Chick’s a trip.
And I would just like to emphasize how thoroughly and hopelessly lost this city is before we go any further. The fellow running against WU for mayor?
Talks the exact same game. He just doesn’t have a mariachi band, although his daddy does have an NFL team.
…Josh Kraft, Wu’s principal mayoral opponent, took a similar tack as the mayor and her political allies, describing the feds’ sanctuary ultimatum as “just another unhinged attack targeting our nation’s immigrants, who comprise the backbone of our economy and our communities.”
Immigrants ‘comprise the BACKBONE of our ECONOMY and COMMUNITIES‘ says another possible mayor of Boston.
The backbone.
While what – we Americans sit in front of the TV and wait for them to bring us a sammich?
That’s the privileged progressive mindset for you. Hardworking, knuckle-dragging Americans aren’t the backbone of this country, you see.
Illegals are.
Brahmin class Wu and her equally (or is it equitably?) elite opponent are willing to continue holding their city and its residents hostage for more of these community backboney types who have never been permitted to so much as touch a toe in their rarified social spheres other than pool and lawn maintenance, kitchen help, or garbage collection.
NEW: Today, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu doubled down on her city’s sanctuary status.
Below is a thread of some of the most egregious criminal aliens who were recently protected by Boston’s sanctuary policies & released into the public w/ ICE detainers ignored, per ICE press… pic.twitter.com/NVV7RWFvAu
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 19, 2025
…were recently protected by Boston’s sanctuary policies & released into the public w/ ICE detainers ignored, per ICE press releases.
– Turkish illegal alien Bilal Karayigit, arrested by Boston PD for raping a Massachusetts resident over the age of 14. His ICE detainer was ignored & he was released into the community.
– Dominican illegal alien Julio Soto-Heredia charged in Boston w/ fentanyl trafficking & possession of a gun, & wanted in the Dominican Republic for firearms trafficking. Released from local custody with no ICE cooperation.
– Dominican illegal alien Gregori Thomas Romero, arrested by Boston PD for assault to rape, assault with a deadly weapon, and strangulation suffocation. Released from custody with no ICE cooperation.
– Guatemalan illegal alien Sostenes Perez-Lopez, arrested in Boston for the sexual assault of a child & released from local custody with ICE’s detainer ignored by the Boston municipal court.
The virtue signaling performance from Wu, as the Herald says, looked more like a campaign event. No doubt her podium fierceness will end up in ads as she squares off against the well-financed Patriots scion.
…U.S. Senator Ed Markey characterized the Trump administration’s decision to “pick a fight” with Boston’s elected leaders as “political theater,” in his remarks at the press conference, which more closely resembled a Wu reelection campaign rally, and opened with a live Spanish-music performance.
A quick glance at a couple of days’ worth of Boston headlines, though, paints a different picture of Wu’s stewardship and misplaced priorities.
There are lots of other problems to fix first, maybe?
Boston to roll out action plan as concern grows over rising rat population
They did arrest one of the biggest rats in Boston last week – the Suffolk County Sheriff – for shaking down a legal weed dealer. Close associate of the mayor’s. Not her first rodeo with unsavory types, either working directly for or with her.
Rats do leave sinking ships, though. Sadly for Mayor Wu and her wannabe successor’s narrative, the economic backbone of Boston and Massachusetts in general is not the great hordes of illegals they have welcomed and succored, but the innovation and technology industries they are driving out.
…“Massachusetts’ flagging leadership in the professional, scientific, and technical sectors is clear and troubling. It is the engine of Massachusetts’ innovation economy,” said Aidan Enright, Pioneer’s economic research associate and author of “Massachusetts at Risk: GSP Growth Slows Relative to Competitor States”. “Continued inaction on longstanding barriers to growth, like housing and taxes, leaves the state less able to compete for talent and investment—and even more vulnerable to new federal policy pressures.”
From 2020 to 2024, Massachusetts’ private sector per capita real GSP grew by 11.9 percent, well below the national average of 13.3 percent, and significantly behind Florida (17.2 percent), Texas (15.9 percent), and New Hampshire (14.8 percent).
- The state’s per capita real GSP growth fell from fourth fastest in the nation (1998–2019) to 28th fastest (2020–2024).
Massachusetts’ structural challenges—ranging from unaffordable housing to a less than hospitable business climate (taxes, regulation) are leading to less growth, anemic job creation, and a sustained outmigration of young and high-income residents. These challenges are only exacerbated by the disproportionate impact of current federal policies, which are jeopardizing medical research funding and exports, as well as stymied investment from high interest rates and economic uncertainty.
The decline in PSTS market share is especially concerning because it is critical to Massachusetts’ economic development and its status as a knowledge-based and innovation-driven economy. Massachusetts’ longstanding advantages—the Commonwealth’s world-class universities and developed entrepreneurial ecosystems in biotech, the life sciences, and other emerging high-growth industries—are being undercut by competitor states that offer lower costs of living and a more favorable business climate.
Those who have stayed have lagged behind other big US cities.
Compare Job Growth in Boston relative to NYC since COVID shutdown
Boston has still not recovered all the lost jobs
NYC has not only recovered, but added 3% more
Why? Has Boston stagnated because of Mayor Wu’s policies? pic.twitter.com/iRR9z3xFn0
— RIP (@theripsnorter) August 19, 2025
Now the city is facing a stand-off with the federal government over intransigence on illegal immigrants that could well cost it federal funds it cannot afford. Wu was already trying to split the baby on federal grants tied to ICE enforcement before Bondi’s letter arrived.
The City of Boston will participate in a $12 million federal grant, despite a requirement that 10% of the funds be dedicated to “Supporting collaboration between state and local law enforcement and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” Mayor Michelle Wu said Friday.
…“Nothing in the 2025 new documents can compel the City of Boston to violate our own city laws or state laws in using this grant money,” Wu said. “We’ve done our own internal legal analysis and feel that we are on solid ground applying for these grants and we’ll use them as we have for the last 22 years — keeping the residents of Boston safe, because there is nothing that this new paperwork can do to compel us to violate city and state law.”
It must be something in the water.
There are fewer than 700K residents left in the Boston metro area. Many of them will be voting for more of the same, as Wu is inexplicably still pretty damn popular with the bulk of the people who remain.
…Mayor Wu also holds a strong favorability rating (66% favorable vs. 28% unfavorable) and high job approvals, with 65% of respondents approving of the job she is doing as mayor and 33% disapproving. A total of 61% of respondents say Wu has had some challenges, but that Kraft is not the answer.
These people have serious issues.
I really want to see Bondi lay the hammer down.
The futile progressive performance theater, when that happens, should be epic.
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