Amid a federal immigration crackdown in Boston, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey decried the ramped-up enforcement as “political theater” with no benefit to public safety.
During an appearance on MSNBC Sunday, Healey said President Donald Trump’s administration had not contacted her about what Immigration and Customs Enforcement has dubbed “Operation Patriot 2.0.” A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said ICE was “arresting sex offenders, pedophiles, murderers, drug dealers and gang members released by local authorities.”
But Healey, who noted her experience as a prosecutor and the state’s attorney general, said the surge of immigration enforcement was not actually aimed at making Massachusetts safer.
“What we have seen from ICE and from the administration really isn’t about public safety, it’s about political theater,” Healey said. “It’s about a political power grab and an attempt to intimidate.”
ICE operations in Massachusetts have led to the arrest and detainment of civilians, not just criminals, Healey said.
“We’ve seen construction workers, nannies, landscapers, health care aids, these are the people who are being taken in these huge numbers, taken away from their families,” she said. “When I have high school students being ripped off the streets in Massachusetts on their way to volleyball practice by ICE agents, something’s wrong.”
The first “Operation Patriot” led to the arrest of nearly 1,500 people across Massachusetts in May. But many of those arrested did not have a criminal record, according to The Boston Globe.
Days before the start of the reported start of the surge of immigration enforcement, the Department of Justice filed suit against Boston in federal court, claiming its “sanctuary city” law was unconstitutional. The city has not responded in federal court, but Boston Mayor Michelle Wu vowed to fight back.
The law in question, the Boston Trust Act, prohibits local law enforcement in the city from aiding ICE in civil immigration efforts.
“These are just terms the Trump administration makes up,” Healey said, of the “sanctuary city” phrase.
“Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state,” she added.
Wu has also decried the ICE operation, saying the city would not be “bullied or intimidated into abandoning the efforts that make Boston a safe home for everyone.”
“For months, ICE has refused to provide any information about their activities in Boston and refuses to issue warrants, while we hear reports of ICE agents taking parents as they are dropping their kids off at school,” she said. “That does not make our community safer.”
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