The Trump administration is preparing an immigration enforcement blitz in Boston in the coming weeks, according to a current administration official and a former administration official.
The latest plans, which could still change, would involve a surge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel and represent the latest Democratic-run city to be targeted by President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration has frequently clashed with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and criticized the city’s so-called sanctuary policy — which limits local law enforcement’s cooperation with federal agents looking to arrest and remove undocumented immigrants.
The clampdown could come soon after a similar surge in Chicago in September, the former official and current official said. But the operations could also happen concurrently, the administration official said.
“The highest degree of national security and public safety concerns are in sanctuary cities,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters on Friday. “So without getting into specifics, and revealing any operational details, the president has been clear repeatedly that we're going to be prioritizing enforcement in these sanctuary jurisdictions as a matter of public safety and national security.”
Flooding Boston with immigration enforcement officials would represent the latest escalation in the administration’s campaign against Democrat-led cities, and, following action in Los Angeles and Washington, would continue to blur the lines between the military, policing and immigration enforcement across the country.
It’s part of a broader strategy that could define the next chapter in the White House’s efforts to carry out the president’s promise to deport millions of undocumented immigrants. The Trump administration has thus far struggled to meet its arrest and removal quotas but the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” provided billions in new funding to beef up ICE efforts.
“All these sanctuary cities that refuse to work with ICE where we know public safety threats are being released every day into this country, especially those cities, we’re going to address that,” border czar Tom Homan said at the White House this week. “So we’re going to take the assets we have and move them to problem areas like sanctuary cities where we know for a fact there are public safety threats, illegal aliens on the streets every day.”
Democratic Gov. Maura Healey’s office declined to comment, and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson at DHS said the agency targets the "worst criminal illegal aliens—including murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, and terrorists—across the country."
"It is no surprise that these criminals flock to sanctuary cities where politicians protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets putting American lives at risk," the spokesperson said. "DHS will go to wherever these criminal illegal aliens are—including Chicago and Boston. Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, nowhere is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens. If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return.”
The planned immigration enforcement operations are linked to Trump’s promise to expand his crime crackdown beyond Washington, where the National Guard’s presence has allowed Metropolitan Police to assist with ICE operations.
That’s allowed the president to bill the efforts as designed to restore law and order — a message that touches both crime and immigration, two issues Trump has long tied together.
“We go in, we will solve Chicago within one week, maybe less,” Trump said earlier this week. “But within one week we’ll have no crime in Chicago, like no crime in D.C.”
On Wednesday, officials at the Naval Station Great Lakes, north of Chicago, said they had “been approached by the Department of Homeland Security regarding a potential request to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations.”
The crackdowns in Chicago and Boston are expected to begin with increased immigration enforcement, similar to the Los Angeles playbook, the current and former administration official said. The increased enforcement could spur clashes with local officials and residents, leading the president to deploy the National Guard to protect ICE officers.
The Trump administration has been intensifying its battle with Boston and other Democratic cities this month. The Justice Department issued a revised list of sanctuary jurisdictions it says aren’t providing enough assistance with immigration enforcement. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent letters to 32 jurisdictions this month, accusing Boston and Chicago of obstructing federal law in a letter.
Bondi has threatened to pull funding from cities that are uncooperative, to dispatch law enforcement and to criminally charge and prosecute local leaders.
“You better comply, or you’re next,” she said on Fox Business.
Kelly Garrity and Megan Messerly contributed to this report.
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