Wu defends Boston's record on crime, Trust Act as congressional Republicans grill mayors over immigration

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu appeared Wednesday before a congressional committee on local law enforcement's interactions with federal immigration agents.

Wu testified alongside Mayors Brandon Johnson of Chicago, Mike Johnston of Denver and Eric Adams of New York. The Democrats were asked to answer questions from members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform because they lead cities that have policies that outline when local police must cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

You can watch the testimony here:

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Wu entered the hearing room Wednesday morning carrying her daughter, Mira, who was born in January. The mayor had ashes on her forehead to mark the Christian holiday, Ash Wednesday.

In her opening statement, Wu introduced herself as the “daughter of immigrants” and said she was “ proud to be here on behalf of our city.”

Wu, like her fellow mayors, provided safety statistics as a way to highlight that new immigrants coming to Boston have not increased violent crime rates.

“We are the safest major city in the nation because we are safe for everyone,” said Wu, citing record low homicide and gun violence rates in the city.

Last year, Boston recorded its lowest number of shooting deaths since the city started tracking the figure, according to Police Commissioner Michael Cox. Major crimes, however, ticked up 1%, driven by increases in aggravated assaults, commercial burglaries and larceny.

Wu said immigration is “federal law enforcement's responsibility” and that Boston police “partner every day with state and federal law enforcement.”

In Boston, police officers are instructed under the Boston Trust Act not to turn people over to federal agents for immigration violations alone. However, Wu has repeatedly said the city follows federal laws and allows Boston police to cooperate with ICE to investigate serious crimes involving people in the U.S. without legal status.

The city ordinance was first passed in 2014 and reaffirmed in December. Massachusetts' Supreme Judicial Court also ruled in 2017 that police in the state are not allowed to hold individuals based solely on an ICE detainer.

Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, of Virginia, asked Wu to respond to comments from President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan who said he would be “bringing hell” to Boston.

“Shame on him for lying about my city, for having the nerve to insult our police commissioner who has overseen the safest Boston's been in anyone's lifetime,” the mayor said in response.

“Bring him here under oath, and let's ask him some questions,” Wu added.

Asked whether her constituents or the White House know how to keep their community safe, Wu used the Boston’s revolutionary history to push back against Trump.

“Our local community knows best,” she said. ”And we can tell you in Boston, over our history, it has not been the word of presidents, or kings, or presidents who think they are kings that set what happens. It is our residents.”

Several Republican members of the committee insisted that declining to assist federal agents with non-criminal detention orders was illegal. Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna said she would refer the mayors to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation.

“If you guys continue to do what you're doing you’re not going to help anyone,” she told the mayors. “You’re going to hurt more people, and that’s exactly why I’m tired of it and the American people are tired of it.”

New York Rep. Nick Langworthy took Wu to task for her remarks offering sympathy to the family of a man shot and killed by an off-duty police officer over the weekend. Police said the knife-wielding man reportedly tried to stab two people inside the Copley Square Chick-fil-A restaurant before he was shot.

“Mayor Wu, the other day you stunningly expressed sympathy for the man responsible for the knife attack, not the brave officer who stopped him,” he said.

"Where is the sympathy for the men and women in law enforcement trying to keep us safe?

Wu took exception to Langworthy’s description, telling him to “check your facts, watch the video.”

“I did not express sympathy for that individual — but for their family,” she said. “And any individual whose life is lost is a tragedy.”

As Wu testified in Washington, hundreds of people gathered on City Hall Plaza for a pro-immigration rally.

"This is a waste of her time, waste of all of our time, but we have to stand strong to let the rest of the country know that she has our backing, that we are doing the right thing here in Boston," said Suzanne Lee of the Chinese Progressive Association.

Josh Kraft, who’s challenging Wu in the mayor’s race, showed up at the rally. He said he was there to support Boston’s immigrant community. And he called the grilling in Congress a “circus.”

“It has nothing to do with substance, nothing to do with anything that's important to any of us. It's just performative,” Kraft said.

While most of those gathered in Boston were supportive of Wu, there were a few dozen counter-protesters there as well.

Committee Chairman U.S. Rep. James Comer, of Kentucky, sent a letter requesting Wu testify before the committee in late January. The mayor arranged for the hearing to be pushed to March because of the birth of her daughter.

In a statement last week, Comer said the mayors "have implemented reckless, illegal policies that shield criminal aliens from federal immigration enforcement and endanger public safety."

Ahead of the hearing, Wu told WBUR that she wants to tell the committee about the "incredible work" the city is doing around public safety.

“I intend to talk about how we do collaborate every single day with all different agencies in keeping our residents safe, and I also hope to share some of the stories as well of the real people who these policies can erase," Wu said.

With reporting from WBUR's Jesús Marrero Suárez.