Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey (D) criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) latest operation in her state, calling it "political theater" and a "power grab" by the Trump administration.
Speaking on MSNBC's The Weekend, Healey said:
"Look, I'll say this, I'm a former prosecutor. I'm a former attorney general. I've said many, many times, including to the Trump administration, that I support, as attorney general and now as governor, everything we can do on public safety. But what we have seen from ICE and from the administration really isn't about public safety, it's about political theater. It's about a political power grab and an attempt to intimidate"
The raids, known as "Patriot 2.0," follow May's Operation Patriot, which led to the arrest of roughly 1,500 undocumented migrants in Massachusetts. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson consulted by The Hill said the new operation targets "the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens living in the state of Massachusetts."
According to The New York Times, the Massachusetts operation began late last week and is expected to last several weeks. In a statement shared with The Times, a Homeland Security said about the new operation: "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 DHS official also told The Hill that "sanctuary policies like those pushed by Mayor (Michelle) Wu (Boston) not only attract and harbor criminals but also place these public safety threats above the interests of law-abiding American citizens."
Like Healey, Wu has been a vocal critic of Trump's immigration crackdown. As The Independent points out, Wu told Boston public radio in June that ICE's tactics "are the opposite of what makes communities safer, and no one's buying that line, that 'we're just here to help make everyone safer."
The Justice Department has sued Boston over its sanctuary city policy, known as the Boston Trust Act. Attorney General Pam Bondi said of the Lawsuit:
"The City of Boston and its mayor have been among the worst sanctuary offenders in America — they explicitly enforce policies designed to undermine law enforcement and protect illegal aliens from justice. If Boston won't protect its citizens from illegal alien crime, this Department of Justice will"
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