Officials across Greater Boston say they’re trying to overcome loads of “misinformation” amid President Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown, with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu accusing Fox News and “other celebrities” of sensationalism.
Speaking to reporters at City Hall, Wu said “so many of our community members” are living in “intense and scary times,” but the Trump administration has made that “by design” and “intentional.”
The mayor pointed to how federal immigration enforcement so far under Trump’s new presidency has “mirrored” the actions that took place under the Biden administration, prioritizing a crackdown on illegal immigrants with violent criminal backgrounds and convictions.
“They are now including Fox News being embedded … on these actions,” Wu said on Tuesday, “or bringing other celebrities to document what’s happening to create a sense of greater impact with that fear and destabilization.”
Wu doubled down on comments she made during WGBH’s monthly “Ask the Mayor” segment on Monday. In her interview with the radio station, Wu also called out Dr. Phil for following along with border czar Tom Homan and federal immigration enforcement officers in Chicago.
The mayor described Fox News and Dr. Phil following along as an “element of wanting to sensationalize” immigration enforcement efforts.
Wu made her initial comments hours before she received a letter from Congress calling on her to testify on sanctuary city policies. The city has yet to decide how it will respond, the mayor said.
Fox News was embedded with officers from ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston last week, documenting the agency’s arrests of at least eight illegal immigrants across the city and surrounding area.
Footage from one of those arrests, of a 25-year-old Haitian gang member with 17 previous criminal convictions, went viral — with some of Trump’s top officials celebrating the apprehension.
More than 3,500 illegal immigrants have been reportedly arrested since Trump returned to the White House last Monday, with more than half occurring in raids this past weekend, according to national reports.
Homan has said large-scale operations aren’t too far away.
“President Trump’s going to secure the borders as promised to the American people,” the border czar said. “We’re going to enforce immigration law. So that’s what we’re going to do, without apology. We’re on board, we’re going to go forward, you’re going to see it get a hell of a lot bigger in the near future.”
Several city and town leaders across Greater Boston highlighted how they’re approaching conveying information to residents during a forum hosted by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition on Tuesday.
Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne said her administration is trying to set up verification protocols to stay up to date on any potential immigration enforcement activity in her sanctuary city.
Ballantyne added officials are providing residents resources to verify information, “trying to get ahead of the misinformation by setting expectations.”
“It’s training, training, training,” the mayor said. “We’re empowering our residents with information so that they can make the best decisions for themselves and their loved ones.”
Laura Rotolo, a field director and attorney for the ACLU of Massachusetts, said it’s essential for “nonprofit leaders and (municipal) officials to ensure they’re not contributing to panic.”
Rotolo said people on social media need to look closely into what is being posted, highlighting how a recent post she saw was of an image of ICE activity from several years ago.
“We know that this administration has promised large-scale immigration raids, that they have promised large-scale enforcement,” she said. “We have not seen that yet … but what we have seen is a lot of fear and panic especially on social media.”