2 days Ago By Joe Battenfeld
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is creating a potentially dangerous standoff situation by telling migrants here illegally it was “safe” to call 911 and other city services despite President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to use the feds to start mass deportations. “Reaching out to city services, whether it’s calling 911 when you need it, or taking your child to school — those are all city services that have nothing to do with immigration enforcement,” Wu said during a weekend TV show appearance. “And we will continue to protect our residents within those spaces.
” How far will Wu go to protect illegal immigrants? Is she making a promise she can’t keep? What is calling 911 going to do? That’s unclear because Wu as usual gave conflicting answers when asked about Trump’s vow to declare a national emergency to start mass deportations. Will she use police to shield them from the feds? Use taxpayer money to go to court to block deportations? Move them to undisclosed locations? Risk federal funding? Her wishy-washy answers did not address those questions and she was never pushed by the non-confrontational questions on the show, where she said only she would protect residents “every possible way” from Trump’s actions. “Elections have consequences, and the federal government is responsible for a certain set of actions, and cities – no individual city – can reverse or override some parts of that,” she said.
Yes, we know cities can’t reverse elections or federal policy. And the “but” part of Wu’s answer did little to shed light on how she’ll react to Trump’s plans. “But what we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way; that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large scale economic impacts.
” What does protecting our residents mean? How does “causing widespread fear” threaten safety? Will she order police to “protect” the immigrants who are not here legally and risk being deported? Does that mean actively obstructing ICE from going after rapists and felons? All we know is that under the city’s sanctuary city act, police and other city departments cannot cooperate with the feds on detaining illegal immigrants on civil warrants, not criminal ones. But Trump has promised to ignore the sanctuary city designations to crack down on illegal immigration, especially those here wanted for criminal charges. Wu is in a tough place and she knows it.
She faces a reelection race next year as one of the country’s leading Democratic liberals and Trump was just elected on a nationwide Republican mandate to reject those liberal policies. Even in heavily Democratic Boston, Trump made major gains in blue collar voting districts. Wu has never shown much of a backbone on the illegal immigration issue, including her not doing anything to stop the state from taking over a community asset – a recreation center – to house migrants.
The mayor faces a potential challenge in 2025 from City Councilor Ed Flynn, who is trying to appeal to moderate and conservative voters, and wealthy philanthropist Josh Kraft, who recently became a Democrat but could pour millions of dollars into his campaign coffers. So when she plays politics by making cryptic remarks about protecting immigrants, it raises a number of tough questions which she has not answered. It’s not showing true leadership.
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