Chelsea, Somerville sue Trump administration for "politicized attack" on sanctuary cities
The cities of Chelsea and Somerville filed suit on Monday, asking a federal judge to block the Trump administration's efforts to withhold funding from so-called "sanctuary jurisdictions."
"Unless we storm the local sandwich shops they say they'll take away our federal funds, funds that we pay taxes for, no matter who it hurts in our community," said Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne at a news conference.
Both cities are being represented by Lawyers for Civil Rights.
"The Massachusetts cities of Chelsea and Somerville bring this action to prevent the federal Executive Branch from defunding their police forces and other essential public safety functions as part of a politicized attack on 'sanctuary jurisdictions,'" lawyers said in the complaint.
The cities stand to lose tens of millions of dollars if the Trump administration follows through on threats to withhold funding from sanctuary cities.
"President Trump and his agencies have said in no uncertain terms that he plans to strip federal funding from sanctuary cities," said Oren Sellstrom, the Litigation Director for Lawyers for Civil Rights.
Trump border czar targets Boston
The lawsuit comes days after President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, had some harsh words for Boston and the city's police commissioner, Michael Cox, at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
"The police commissioner of Boston, you said you'd double down on not helping the law enforcement offices of ICE. I'm coming to Boston, I'm bringing hell with me," Homan said, prompting applause from the crowd. "You're not a police commissioner. Take that badge off your chest, put it in your desk drawer. Because you became a politician. You forgot what it's like to be a cop."
Mayor Wu defends police commissioner
Mayor Michelle Wu came to her commissioner's defense saying, "It's pretty clueless for someone to be insulting our police commissioner, whose decades of experience, whose leadership in the role and whose results with our amazing police department speak for themselves."
Regardless of rhetoric, Massachusetts law prevents local police officers from arresting or detaining people based solely on their immigration status.
Former Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations for ICE Boston, Bruce Foucart, says that law has undoubtedly made arrests more difficult and less safe for federal immigration officers.
"Why preclude law enforcement from cooperating with each other is beyond me. It's like asking the feds, it's like asking the state and locals to do this job with one hand tied behind their backs," Foucart said.
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