Boston Mayor Wu responds to ruling blocking Trump attempt to deny funding over 'sanctuary' policies

Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald on Aug 25, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Mayor Michelle Wu welcomed a legal ruling Friday blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to deny funding to cities with “sanctuary” policies, stating that Boston will “continue to follow the law.”

“This is one more example of the courts stepping in to say the Trump administration is wrong on the law,” Wu said at an unrelated event Sunday. “It is not within their power to take away funding from cities who are following the law and are not participating in mass deportations, as is the division set out in the Constitution between state and local governments and our federal government.”

The mayor’s response follows a ruling from U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco extending a preliminary injunction to Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and 30 other cities and counties. The ruling blocks the Trump administration from cutting off or conditioning federal funding in jurisdictions with “sanctuary” policies, like Boston’s Trust Act, which limits local cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

The initial preliminary injunction protected over a dozen other cities and counties with sanctuary policies, including San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. The Trump administration has appealed the first ruling.

U.S Attorney General Pam Bondi sent Boston officials a letter earlier in the month, giving Wu a deadline to confirm the city’s “commitment to complying with federal law” and identify immediate steps to “eliminate laws, policies and practices that impede federal immigration enforcement.” The AG has stated the federal government intends to cut off federal funding and “send in law enforcement” like they have in D.C. if the jurisdictions do not comply.

Wu responded that Boston would not comply with the order, characterizing the federal government’s attacks as unprecedented and unlawful during a large rally last week.

Judge Orrick stated in his injunction that the administration’s executive orders and “executive actions that have parroted them” were an unconstitutional “coercive threat.”

Trump has issued executive orders to direct the AG and Homeland Security Secretary to withhold federal money from the “sanctuary cities” and direct all federal agencies to not issue payments to states and localities that would “abet” sanctuary policies. Local governments that would be affected have said the orders could put billions at risk.

“So we will continue to follow the law,” Wu said Sunday. “We will continue to protect our community members, and that is what has made us the safest major city in the country.”

_____