Photo: WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and other city leaders announced millions of dollars in new funding Tuesday that is meant to help Boston's immigrant communities during the Trump Administration's nationwide deportation campaign.
The new funding totals more than $3.1 million from The Boston Foundation, Barr Foundation, and United Way of Massachusetts Bay. That is in addition to $1.3 million in municipal funds that have already been distributed through grants.
Wu said the money will help immigrants navigate through the Trump Administration's ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration by funding grants for organizations that help immigrants access legal services, afford groceries, and prepare for emergencies.
"We will not let anyone storm into Boston and disrupt our community," Wu said.
The Trump Administration's widespread deportation campaign has been unfolding in cities across the country since January 2025. The Department of Homeland Security claims nearly 3 million "illegal aliens" left the United States as a result of the mission last year.
Democratic-led cities, like Boston, and jurisdictions with so-called sanctuary policies have been the central focus of the Trump Administration's scorn.
“We are exposing these sanctuary politicians who harbor criminal illegal aliens and defy federal law," DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement last year. "President Trump and I will always put the safety of the American people first. Sanctuary politicians are on notice: comply with federal law.”
The crackdown has been palpable in Boston. Early on in President Donald Trump's second term, Tufts graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk was detained after co-authoring an opinion article on the war in Gaza. And this past fall, immigration agents detained Babson College freshman Any Lucia Lopez Belloza at Logan Airport while she was trying to fly home to Texas to visit her family for Thanksgiving. The Trump Administration later admitted it had made a mistake in deporting Lopez Belloza.
But Boston has yet to experience the same level of unrest as places like Minnesota, where opposition to ICE has reached a fever pitch and two protestors have been shot dead by federal agents.
Speculation had been swirling that ICE could hone in on Boston next, but that possibility has not yet materialized; The Department of Homeland Security is shut down because of a funding lapse and simultaneously undergoing a leadership shakeup after President Trump fired Noem.
Boston City Councilor Ruthzee Louigeune said the partnerships with philanthropic organizations announced Tuesday will help the city stay prepared for any increases in Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.
"Vigilance requires resources," Louigeune said. "And in this moment, in order for us to be ready, in order for us to protect our residents, we have to have the resources to do that."
WBZ NewsRadio's Madison Rogers (@madisonwbz) reports.