By Nate Raymond
BOSTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday sued the city of Boston and its Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu to challenge an ordinance that restricts police from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement carrying out U.S. President Donald Trump's agenda.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Boston marked the latest in a legal campaign the Republican president's administration has waged over laws adopted by so-called "sanctuary" jurisdictions governed by Democrats.
The administration contends these laws are impeding Trump's mass deportation agenda.
U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi said in a statement that Boston and Wu "have been among the worst sanctuary offenders in America – they explicitly enforce policies designed to undermine law enforcement and protect illegal aliens from justice."
Wu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit focused on the Boston Trust Act, a law the city council first adopted in 2014 and strengthened in 2019. It reaffirmed its support for the law in December as Trump was preparing to return to office.
The law bars the Boston Police Department and other city officials from collaborating with federal authorities including at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct civil immigration enforcement, including by keeping migrants for potential deportation.
Wu, who is up for re-election, has fiercely supported the law. In a letter to Bondi last month, she said courts had consistently upheld law like Boston's, which Wu said ensures the city remains "a safe and welcoming home for everyone."
The lawsuit argued that Boston's law created obstacles to federal immigration enforcement in violation of the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause, under which federal law preempts state and local laws that conflict with it.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)
