Tom Homan Warns Boston Mayor Against Fighting Deportations—’Not Very Smart’

Tom Homan, whom Donald Trump picked as the next “border czar,” has said Democratic Boston Mayor Michelle Wu was not “very smart” after she vowed to defy the president-elect’s mass deportation plans.
Homan, the former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director, told Newsmax on Monday that Wu should “get the hell out of the way” after she stated she will not cooperate with Trump’s operation to tackle illegal immigration.
The president-elect has vowed to launch the largest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in history when he reenters the White House next year. Speaking with local news station WCVB’s On the Record on Sunday, Wu said Boston is not “cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having a large-scale economic impact.”
“Well, she’s not very smart, I’ll give her that,” Homan said. “President Trump is going to prioritize public safety threats. What mayor or governor doesn’t want public safety threats out of their communities?”
Newsweek has contacted Wu’s office and the Trump transition team for comment via email outside of regular office hours.
Boston is among several so-called sanctuary cities in Massachusetts that limit or deny cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Wu’s stance reinforces Boston’s existing Trust Act, prohibits Boston police from detaining or arresting individuals solely for immigration enforcement purposes, though it maintains allowances for police cooperation with ICE on criminal investigations like human trafficking.
Homan added that protecting people’s communities is “exactly” what the Trump administration intends to do next year.
“So either she [Wu] helps us or she gets the hell out of the way, because we’re going to do it,” Homan said. “There’s a clear line here, and they can’t cross that line. I will suggest she reads Title 8, United States Code 1324 III, which says you can’t harbor or conceal an illegal alien from federal law enforcement officers.”
“They can not cooperate, but there are certain laws in place that they can’t cross, and I hope she doesn’t cross it,” he added.
Boston’s Trust Act was originally signed into law by then Mayor Marty Walsh in 2014 and updated in 2019. The ordinance states that Boston police officers cannot ask individuals about their immigration status, make arrests based solely on ICE administrative warrants, transfer an individual to ICE custody, or perform the functions of federal immigration officers.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has also stated that state police would “absolutely not” participate in Trump’s mass deportation operations and promised to use “every tool in the toolbox” to protect residents.
In an interview with Fox News before it was announced he would be Trump’s new border czar, Homan issued a warning against Democratic state and local governments that said they would refuse to cooperate with Trump’s illegal immigration plans.
“If you don’t want to work with us, then get the hell out of the way. We’re going to do it,” he said. “What it means is, rather than send 100 people to Boston, we’re going to send 200 agents to Boston. We’re going to get the job done.”
On Monday, Trump indicated that he would use the military to carry out his mass deportation plans.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump replied “TRUE!!!” to a post from Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, stating that the president-elect was prepared to “declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.”