Boston Mayor Wu testifies before Congress on immigration policies

About six hours of grilling came to an end Wednesday afternoon after the four leaders of Boston, New York, Chicago and Denver faced questions from House representatives over their local immigration policies.

Throughout the day, several Republican lawmakers cast illegal immigration as an issue of public safety, a costly problem that American taxpayers are subsidizing through government-provided services, and contended that cities’ federal funding should be stripped due to alleged violations of federal law through so-called “sanctuary city” policies.

“I’m glad to be getting back on the plane and going home to Boston,” Mayor Michelle Wu told reporters after her testimony ended Wednesday afternoon. “You know, we knew it was going to be an all-day event, and one where there would be lots of questions on all sides about our policies and what was happening. I was very proud to represent our city — talk about the successes that we've had thanks to all of our residents, thanks to the incredible hard work of the Boston Police Department and all of our officers.”

During the hourslong hearing, one congressperson — Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida — said she would be making criminal referrals to the U.S. Justice Department for mayors’ alleged failure to comply with federal immigration law.

One reporter asked Wu about those referrals, who repeatedly denied any violations of federal immigration law Wednesday.

“As we heard throughout the many hours of testimony today, Boston follows the laws,” Wu responded. “And I am happy, and will make sure, that my team continue to follow up with this committee to get them any other information they need to follow up from this hearing.”

Rep. Nick Langworthy, a Republican from New York, highlighted the case of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old woman who was killed last year by a man who was in the United States illegally. Her case made international headlines as Republicans sought to crack down on illegal immigration and highlight violent crime committed by immigrants.

Langworthy switched gears to raise a much more recent incident in Boston. Last week, an off-duty Boston police officer shot and killed a Roslindale man who reportedly chased two people into a Back Bay Chick-fil-A with a knife. There are no reports that the man was an immigrant.

“Mayor Wu, the other day, you stunningly expressed sympathy for the man responsible for the knife attack — not the brave officer who stopped him. Where’s this sympathy for the men and women in law enforcement trying to keep us safe?” Langworthy asked.

“Congressman, check your facts,” Wu responded. “Check your facts. Watch the video. I did not express sympathy for that individual but for their family, and any individual whose life is lost is a tragedy.”

Speaking to press following the shooting Saturday, Wu said, “My condolences and all of our thoughts are with the family of the individual whose life has been lost, and I’m also thinking of all the people who were impacted here today in one of the busier parts of the city with this tragedy,” Wu said. “I’m glad the officer is safe and very grateful for a quick response from all of our first responders here again in such an active part of Boston.”

Those comments sparked fierce backlash, amplified on Fox News and on online accounts like Libs of TikTok.

Robert Goulston GBH News

Hundreds gathered outside Boston City Hall in support of immigrants and Mayor Michelle Wu as she sat before Congress today.

Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune helped organize the pro-immigrant demonstration. She said she was thankful for the big turnout.

“We are here with hundreds gathered to defend who we are as Bostonians," she said. "This is our city, and we will make sure that we are doing everything we can to protect our immigrant communities.”

Suzanne Lee, the head of the Chinese Progressive Association, a group that advocates for equality and empowerment of the Chinese community, was one of the attendees.

“We are doing the right thing here in Boston, that all people need to be protected. And all people have their rights, including immigrants,” she said.

The scene got heated when about two dozen counter-protestors showed up, calling for stricter immigration enforcement and opposing Wu.

Boston Police intervened a number of times as things got contentious between participants in the dueling rallies. But while there were face-offs between the two sides, the scene was largely peaceful, with Boston Police reporting no arrests.

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Massachusetts Democrat who represents parts of Boston, spent most of her questioning time railing against President Donald Trump and his administration’s policies.

“It’s clear my colleagues across the aisle didn’t do their homework because the fears and division they’re trying to project onto Boston are really the stuff of Fox News fever dreams,” Pressley said. “Our city is vibrant, our city is diverse, our city is beautiful. Mayor Wu, immigration is central to the economic success of Boston, is it not?”

“Absolutely,” Wu responded, naming several industries immigrants contribute to in Boston, like health care and higher education.

Pressley used most of her time to highlight funding slashes under the second Trump administration, such as cuts to research funds at the National Institutes of Health.

“Here we have a man who thinks he’s king screaming anti-immigrant slurs from the Oval Office — and what it has done to make Boston safe? Nothing, not a thing,” she said. “But it has traumatized our kids, cost our elders their dialysis, delayed cancer patients’ chemotherapy, and struck fear into the heart of hardworking people.”

Pressley was referencing reports that attendance to schools and doctor’s appointments has plummeted amid fears of immigration enforcement.

“If you really cared about criminality, you would do something about Elon Musk’s power grab, stealing our data,” the congresswoman later added. “America has a problem, and it is Donald Trump. If my colleagues cared about criminality, they would do something about him.”

Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican from South Carolina, asked all the mayors if their practices were in violation of federal law and they were “willing to go to jail” over it. She then directed her final questions only to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

“Do you believe that ICE arresting a child rapist ‘threatens everyone’s safety’? Yes or no?” Mace asked.

“No,” Wu said.

“Does ICE arresting a murderous MS-13 gang member ‘threatens everyone’s safety’? Yes or no?” Mace asked.

“No,” Wu said.

Mace raised a sheet of paper with a partial quote from Wu that said: “[ICE] efforts ‘actually threaten the safety of everyone’” — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform YouTube

That quote was taken out of context. It came from an appearance on WCVB’s “On The Record” in which Wu addressed how the city would, and would not, work with federal immigration agents under the Trump administration. In the interview, Wu spent time digging into the nuances of Boston’s policies: That while the Boston Trust Act means police won’t cooperate with ICE solely on the basis of immigration status, they will work with ICE on cases that involve criminal warrants. 

“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 in the November interview, referencing federal immigration actions. “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 impact.”

Through several lines of questioning, Mayor Michelle Wu asked for Congress to pass comprehensive federal immigration reform.

U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman, a Republican from Wisconsin, asked the panel of mayors if people who illegally immigrate to the United States should be deported — specifically, if there should be an immigration law.

“Yes,” Wu responded. “I do believe we need — cities everywhere, clearly, need — an immigration law that has secure borders, comprehensive and consistent, compassionate pathways to residency and citizenship. Resources to adjudicate the complexities of the law. And, at the same time, I do not support mass deportation. That would be devastating for our economy, and there are millions of people who are running our small businesses, going to our schools —”

Wu was cut off by Rep. James Comer, the committee’s chair, who noted, “I don’t think anyone’s calling for mass deportation.

The party’s standardbearer, President Donald Trump, said in his address to Congress Tuesday night that he is asking for the funding to “complete the largest deportation operation in American history.”

Rep. Stephen Lynch, a Democrat from Massachusetts, asked mayors for their advice on how to best reconcile federal immigration policy and local enforcement. Lynch suggested that cities’ refusal to cooperate with ICE could present a conflict.

“Please: Pass comprehensive immigration law that is consistent and compassionate,” Wu responded. “That will make our jobs possible and we would so appreciate that partnership.”

Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican from Arizona, later said the mayors of Boston, New York, Denver and Chicago were offering a false promise with their “sanctuary city” policies and “disgracing a legal immigration system that came here — and the immigrants that came here the right way.”

Wu said she didn’t believe, constitutionally, that police officers had to “follow federal laws in conflict with local laws or state laws.”

“OK. In the constitution it’s explicit that the federal government has jurisdiction and supremacy over all immigration laws, right? I mean, I’ve heard it a number of times from my colleagues over here. We’re the ones who can define that. We’re the ones — we just heard, ‘We want a comprehensive immigration policy.’ How can you get a comprehensive immigration policy when you’re defying it from the very get-go? You’re building it on false premises and false tenets.”

“Respectfully, congressman, you could pass bipartisan immigration legislation, and that would be comprehensive immigration law,” Wu responded. “The false narrative is that immigrants, in general, are criminals. Or that immigrants, in general, cause all sorts of danger and harm. That is — that is actually what is undermining safety in our communities. If you wanted to make us safe, pass gun reforms. Stop cutting Medicaid. Stop cutting cancer research. Stop cutting funds for veterans. That is what will make our city safe.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu got more fiery when Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, asked about White House Border Czar Tom Homan who vowed at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month that he would bring “hell” to Boston over the city’s immigration policies.

“What did you understand him to mean by that?” Connolly asked Wu.

“Let’s talk about Tom Homan. Shame on him for lying about my city. For having the nerve to insult my police commissioner, who has overseen the safest Boston’s been in anyone’s lifetime,” Wu responded. “Bring him here under oath and let’s ask him some questions. I am here to make sure that the city of Boston is safe. Others may want to bring hell; we are here to bring peace to cities everywhere.”

Committee Chair Rep. James Comer’s first line of questioning for the mayors included a rapid-fire recap of crime headlines and asking whether mayors would work with federal authorities in those circumstances.

“Last year in a Boston suburb, an illegal alien raped and impregnanted his 14-year-old daughter while living in a shelter for illegal aliens,” Comer said. “Mayor Wu, under Boston law, would you turn this criminal over to ICE on a detainer?”

Wu pointed out what Comer himself had acknowledged: This wasn’t in the city of Boston.

“I can tell you — in the city — whenever someone commits a crime, whenever there’s a criminal warrant, we hold them accountable,” she said. “If ICE deems that they are dangerous enough to hold, obtain a criminal warrant, and the Boston police will enforce it.”

“Will you turn that criminal over to ICE?” Comer asked.

“We follow the laws. And we make sure —” Wu said.

“I take that as a ‘no,’” he cut her off, turning to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Comer appears to be referencing a man who was kicked out of a Marlborough shelter last May, as reported by the Boston Herald. The man was arrested and arraigned last month under charges brought by the Middlesex district attorney’s office, as reported by Boston.com.

Mayor Michelle Wu made her pitch to House representatives in her opening remarks: Boston is safe, it is stronger for its immigrant citizens, and immigration is not her police force’s job.

“Boston has welcomed the world to our shores,” she said, “from the English immigrants fleeing religious persecution to the Irish forced out by famine to the families from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cabo Verde and so many more that call Boston home today.”

As expected, most of her opening focused on safety. She stressed that Boston’s Trust Act and Massachusetts state law define immigration enforcement as federal agents’ responsibility, but that the city cooperates with federal authorities on criminal matters.

She said those laws help promote trust between residents and police. Wu referenced Boston as “the safest major city in the country” because of that trust, in combination with strong gun laws and investments that “cultivate prosperity,” like affordable housing and free pre-K education.

“Every year since I took office, we've set a new record low for gun violence in Boston. Last year, Boston saw the fewest homicides on record in the last 70 years. Those are the facts.”

She accused the Trump administration of undermining the trust city officials and lawmakers have made in Boston.

Over the past month, Wu said she’s met with teachers whose students aren’t coming to class, faith leaders whose pews are half empty and victims who aren’t reporting crimes out of fear.

“This federal administration is making hard-working, tax-paying, God-fearing residents afraid to live their lives,” she said. “A city that's scared is not a city that’s safe. A land ruled by fear is not the land of the free.”

Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images Getty Images North America

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley introduced Boston Mayor Michelle Wu as “a dedicated leader committed to making Boston a welcoming home for everyone.” The two served together on Boston’s City Council.

The Congresswoman also teed up Wu to comment specifically on public safety.

“Under her leadership, Boston has become the safest major city in America,” Pressley said.

But as GBH’s Adam Reilly points out, that depends on how you slice the data.