“The redressability problem here is straightforward as it is fatal to the United States’ claim,” the judge wrote. “As a matter of Massachusetts law, Boston law enforcement officers may not detain a person solely based on a federal immigration detainer or administrative warrant because no authority empowers them to do so.”
A federal judge has thrown out the Trump administration’s lawsuit against the city of Boston.
According to Reuters, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Massachusetts’ largest city over a local law that restricts the police’s ability to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. The lawsuit, originally filed in September, named Boston and its mayor, Michelle Wu, as defendants.
The Justice Department’s claim focused primarily on the Boston Trust Act. The ordinance, first adopted in 2014, was reaffirmed in December 2024, several months before Trump returned to office. The law broadly bars the Boston Police Department, as well as other city officials, from collaborating with federal authorities for the purpose of immigration enforcement.
The Trump administration argued that the Boston Trust Act serves as an unlawful impediment to federal law enforcement activities.
Earlier this week, though, Boston-based District Judge Leo Sorokin found that the Justice Department lacked standing in the case. An Obama appointee, Sorokin said the administration failed to establish how, if at all, a favorable ruling would alleviate the harms that the federal government has allegedly incurred as the result of the city’s Trust Act.
Furthermore, Sorokin wrote, even if were to block the law, Boston police would be still prohibited from assisting in immigration operations due to a 2017 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which bars local law enforcement from detaining non-citizens solely on the basis of a federal immigration detainer.
“The redressability problem here is straightforward as it is fatal to the United States’ claim,” the judge wrote. “As a matter of Massachusetts law, Boston law enforcement officers may not detain a person solely based on a federal immigration detainer or administrative warrant because no authority empowers them to do so.”
“In Massachusetts, there is simply no source of authority empowering Boston police officers to do what the United States would like them to do,” Sorokin said. “An order enjoining the Boston Trust Act would not liberate the City to empower its officers to take actions state law does not authorize, nor give Boston police officers the individual choice to honor ICE detainers.”
“The relief that the United States seeks—an order enjoining the City of Boston from enforcing the Trust Act’s prohibition on detaining noncitizens solely pursuant to a civil immigration detainer or administrative warrant—could not alter this status quo,” he wrote.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has since hailed Sorokin’s ruling.
“We reaffirm our commitment to the local public safety laws and community policing that have made Boston the safest major city in America,” Wu said in a statement. “We urge the Administration to abandon these reckless attacks on our cities, our police departments, and the residents we serve.”
“Good riddance,” Wu said.
Sources
Feds’ lawsuit over Boston’s ‘sanctuary city’ law is dismissed
Federal judge dismisses Trump administration’s lawsuit over Boston’s ‘Trust Act’
Federal judge dismisses Trump administration’s sanctuary lawsuit against Boston
US judge tosses Trump administration’s challenge to Boston’s ‘sanctuary’ immigration law
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