- The Trump administration and Boston police chief are involved in a political fight over immigration. “Border czar” Tom Homan has vowed to “bring hell” to Boston after the city’s Police Commissioner and Chief Michael Cox said he would not cooperate with hold requests from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), citing Massachusetts state law.
- Homan also accused Massachusetts authorities of freeing sex offenders by refusing an ICE detainer request, which keeps individuals in police custody for up to 48 hours.
- Boston City Councilwoman Sharon Durkan struck back on social media, calling Homan’s comments “laughable” and mocking his brief time as a police officer in West Carthage, New York, in the 1980s.
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The Trump administration and the Boston Police chief are involved in a political fight over immigration. Donald Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan has vowed to “bring hell” to the city after Boston’s police commissioner said he wouldn’t cooperate with hold requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, citing state law.
What did Homan say?
Homan criticized Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox at the Conservative Political Action Committee on Saturday, Feb. 22, and promised to visit Beantown.
“I’m coming to Boston, and I’m bringing hell with me,” Homan said.
Homan also accused Massachusetts authorities of freeing sex offenders by refusing an ICE detainer. ICE detainers keep individuals in police custody for up to 48 hours.
Homan quickly pivoted back to Cox, saying, “You’re not a police commissioner. Take that badge off your chest. Put it back in the desk drawer, because you became a politician. You forgot what it’s like to be a cop.”
What are Boston politicians saying?
Boston City Councilwoman Sharon Durkan struck back on social media, calling Homan’s comments “laughable” and mocked his brief time as a police officer in West Carthage, New York, in the 1980s.
“Laughable that someone who spent their career policing a town smaller than a Fenway Park crowd thinks they can lecture Boston on public safety,” Durkan wrote on X.
Who is Tom Homan?
Homan eventually became a Border Patrol agent. He has worked for ICE under the Obama administration as well as Trump’s first, and now second administration.
What did Michael Cox say?
Cox has not responded to Homan’s claims, but his comments sparking the political backlash stemmed from an interview with local television station WCVB.
During the interview, he said state law prevented him from working with ICE on civil detainers and immigration enforcement.
“What people don’t understand, is there is a difference between criminal warrants and civil detainers,” Cox said. “Any criminal warrant is someone wanted outside the state, and if there is a warrant involved, we will absolutely enforce it, we will enforce federal ones, if there is a warrant involved, because we’re almost mandated to. But civil detainers are the defining line, that we just don’t do that because it’s immigration related.”
What is the bigger picture?
Boston’s Office of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations recently reported several arrests of undocumented immigrants, including MS-13 gang members.
Earlier this month, federal immigration authorities in Boston arrested an undocumented migrant from Guatemala charged with multiple counts of rape.
