Boston mayor defends sanctuary city status from 'bullies,' 'presidents who think they are kings'

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Sanctuary city mayor blasts Trump administration and 'presidents who think they are kings'

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu condemned the Trump administration's efforts to deport illegal immigrants, arguing it is in stark contrast to the city's values.

The White House blasted Boston's Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu after she doubled down on her vow to protect illegal immigrants from deportation in her third annual State of the City Address.

As President Donald Trump works to fulfill his campaign promise of mass deportations, he has met stiff resistance from blue cities and states, including "sanctuary" cities — those that do not cooperate with ICE requests that detained illegal immigrants with criminal charges or convictions be transferred to ICE custody. 

Wu is one such example of a local leader resisting Trump’s efforts, having vowed in an interview with a local out in November, "We are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large-scale economic impact." 

But Boston and surrounding areas have seen a spike in sex crimes amid the migrant crisis. Between August and December, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officials arrested 26 illegal migrants in the Boston area for sex crimes against children ranging from child rape to sexual assault to distributing child pornography.

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Boston Mayor Michelle Wu slammed the Trump administration during her speech on Wednesday.

This has not dissuaded Wu from blasting the Trump administration and Congress for its efforts to enforce immigration laws, however. 

In early March, Wu and three other sanctuary city mayors were grilled by the House Committee on Oversight and Government over their policies.

During her State of the City address, she spoke about her congressional testimony, recalling, "Two weeks ago, I went down to D.C. because Congress had some questions about how we do things here in Boston. It might have been my voice speaking into the microphone that day, but it was 700,000 voices that gave Congress their answer: This is our city."

"No one tells Boston how to take care of our own. Not kings, and not presidents who think they are kings. Boston was born facing down bullies," she added.

She noted that while she was in D.C., she kept an eye on what was happening back in Boston, where she was pleased to see locals protesting with signs reading, "We stand with immigrants," "You belong here," "Somos una ciudad de inmigrantes" [We are a city of immigrants], and "Boston doesn’t back down." 

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WASHINGTON, DC- MARCH 5: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu testifies during a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing titled "A Hearing with Sanctuary City Mayors" in Washington, DC on March 5, 2025. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

She extolled Boston's virtues as a city, describing it as a "family" that sticks together and defends its own, including illegal immigrants.

"We are a city where the Irish coffee is strong, and our opinions are stronger," she said. "We may not always agree or see eye-to-eye, but at the end of the day, we are a family. If you come for one of us, you will get all of us. We are a city that knows our strength is each other, and we will defend the people we love with all that we've got. When the weight of the world presses down, Boston stands up."

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The White House responded Thursday with a statement headlined, "Boston’s Radical Mayor Puts Violent Criminal Illegal Aliens First."

The statement blasted the Boston mayor for having "doubled down on giving sanctuary to violent criminal illegal immigrants." 

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has been criticized frequently for crime happening in one of America's most famous cities. (Boston 25 News)

It proceeded to share "just a few examples of the criminals recently arrested by ICE Boston that Mayor Wu is defending," with a list of links to stories about the arrests of migrants in the city, including gang members accused of various heinous crimes, ranging from the rape of a minor to armed robbery and use of deadly weapons.

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"This begs the question: Why is Mayor Wu intent on defying the will of the American people and obstructing the Trump Administration’s efforts to remove these monsters from our streets?" the statement concluded.

Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report.