The deadline for Boston to cooperate with the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration is only one day.
The U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter last week to send a compliance plan to Boston and other sanctuary cities on Tuesday. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu received the letter along with 32 other mayors and governors across the country.
If Boston fails to comply, the Justice Department threatens to withdraw federal funds and even file a civil lawsuit.
“Here is hereby notified that your jurisdiction has been identified as engaging in asylum policies and practices that are damage to federal immigration enforcement and harm the interests of the United States. This is now over. By Tuesday, August 19, 2025, please confirm your law to confirm your law, and determine your attorney to confirm your law, and determine your law firm, and comply with your law firm. This hinders federal immigration enforcement. This letter does not constitute the ultimate institutional action, and there is no right or benefit from the benefits of the law to the United States.
The Trump administration proposed a compliance plan for immigration enforcement to the Boston administration until Tuesday.
Bondy elaborated on the letter in an interview with Fox News Thursday night: “I sent a letter to all these mayors and governors, saying, 'You have to comply. We want to know what you are doing to comply with our federal government.' So we will see their response.”
During Monday's media event, Wu will only tell us that the city is still finalizing a response.
“Boston is everyone’s home,” she said. “We never back down who we are and what we represent.”
The mayor noted that more information about the city’s response will be shared on Tuesday.
Mayor Michelle Wu said Boston is finalizing its response to the Justice Department’s need for details on how the federal immigration law is planned to be implemented. Political commentator Sue O'Connell shares how much Boston could lose in the worst case and what the city's obligations are.
Osdir Claros attended a rally outside Boston City Hall, calling on Wu to stand up.
“It really is the mayor's decision,” Kras said. “I hope Michelle Wu makes the right decision. I hope she keeps the city as a sanctuary.”
A 2017 court ruling in Massachusetts Supreme Court of Justice clarifies why police in the state cannot simply detain someone in civil immigration detention centers.
“We will not be arrested for civil assault,” said former Yarmouth Police Commissioner Frank Frederickson.
Frederickson said Lunn and the Commonwealth ruling were very clear.
“We can't go beyond the authorities we belong to,” he said. “Lunn's decision defines this particular problem, that we can't just detain people in civil immigration detention. It's really simple.”
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell quoted the case earlier this year in the case titled “Know Your Rights: ICE Enforcement.”
“Civil detainees are the ICE requirement that a person be detained before an ICE agent can be arrested. Similar to an administrative warrant, the ICE issued a civil detainee, not a judge,” Campbell's office wrote in the guide. “Lunn did not restrict state and local law enforcement actions under state law to protect public safety; it simply makes it clear that federal civil detainees themselves are not legal grounds for detention.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi sent letters to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and dozens of other government leaders nationwide, with a list of requests.
“Unlike the Trump administration, Boston complies with the law,” Wu said in a statement after receiving a letter from Bundy last week, who later elaborated on the camera.
“We will continue to stand up for the city of Boston,” she said. “Boston will not return to bullies. Boston will not fall back in the face of threats.”
Wu had previously proved Boston’s sanctuary status before Congress, insisting that policy restrictions on interactions with federal law enforcement will not violate federal law, but will promote trust and security in communities.
“Everyone in our community can also play a role in keeping each other safe,” Wu said. “We keep each other safe in Boston. We don't need authoritarian administrations to instill fear and intimidate us.”
She added that the city is responding to Bundy’s letter in writing and sharing it upon completion.
Wu's office said in a press release Monday afternoon that the mayor will join community members and elected officials in Town Hall Square at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in response to the Justice Department letter, “and highlight community policing, partnerships and investments that make Boston the safest major city in the United States.”