The Department of Homeland Security said all options are on the table to deal with cities that are refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities as the Trump administration carries out its mass deportation operation.
“Everything is on the table, including those lawsuits and withholding federal funding,” said Tricia McLaughlin, DHS’s Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. “Politicians have to take action and stop playing these political games.”
McLaughlin was responding to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s defiant tone to Attorney General Pam Bondi’s letter to 32 mayors across the nation warning that political leaders who do not comply with immigration enforcement could be prosecuted.
HOLY CRAP! @TriciaOhio just said that EVERY OPTION is on the table when it comes to dealing with Boston and Mayor Wu.
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) August 19, 2025
"EVERYTHING is on the table, including those lawsuits and withholding federal funding. Politicians have to take action and stop playing these political games." https://t.co/gbDjPxIAPa pic.twitter.com/4LjZc38v1D
The letter had asked mayors and some governors to provide a response by August 19 that “confirms your commitment with complying with federal law and identifies the immediate initiatives you are taking to eliminate laws, policies and practices that impede federal immigration enforcement.”
Wu, a Democrat, provided one.
"Here it is: stop attacking our cities to hide your administration’s failures," she wrote on social media linking to her defiant letter.
“On behalf of the people of Boston, and in solidarity with the cities and communities targeted by this federal administration for our refusal to bow down to unconstitutional threats and unlawful coercion, we affirm our support for each other and for our democracy,” Wu wrote to Bondi. “Boston will never back down from being a beacon of freedom, and a home for everyone.”
Fox News's Bill Melugin offered a reminder about some of the criminal aliens nabbed in Boston.
NEW: Today, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu doubled down on her city’s sanctuary status.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) August 19, 2025
Below is a thread of some of the most egregious criminal aliens who were recently protected by Boston’s sanctuary policies & released into the public w/ ICE detainers ignored, per ICE press… pic.twitter.com/NVV7RWFvAu
Indeed, McLaughlin emphasized that the administration is still focused on removing criminal aliens.
"Seventy percent of the arrests that are made under this administration have been of illegal immigrants with prior criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, so these are criminals that we are going after," she said.