By Nate Raymond
BOSTON, May 13 (Reuters) – A federal judge appeared likely on Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit President Donald Trump’s administration filed challenging a Boston ordinance that restricts police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin during a hearing in Boston sharply questioned a lawyer with the U.S. Department of Justice about what legal grounds it had to pursue the lawsuit, one of more than a dozen it has filed challenging laws adopted by so-called “sanctuary jurisdictions” run by Democrats.
The lawsuit was filed in September against the city and Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu and challenges the Boston Trust Act, a law first adopted in 2014. The city council reaffirmed its support for the measure in December 2024 as Trump prepared to return to office.
The law bars the Boston Police Department and other city officials from collaborating with federal authorities including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to conduct civil immigration enforcement, including by keeping migrants for potential deportation.
“ICE officers have to totally change how they do business because of the Boston Trust Act,” Justice Department attorney Sean Skedzielewski told Sorokin.
He argued the law impeded federal immigration enforcement in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause and was preempted by federal law.
But Sorokin, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, appeared skeptical of Skedzielewski’s reading of immigration law and whether the federal government could show it was harmed by the law, providing it legal standing to sue.
He questioned, for example, if anything would actually change for ICE if he ruled for the Justice Department, since, under a ruling by Massachusetts’ highest court in 2017 during Trump’s first term, local law enforcement under state law are limited from assisting federal immigration enforcement.
“You want me to order them to violate state law,” he said.
Sam Dinning, a lawyer with the city’s law department, called the lawsuit “fundamentally an intimidation tactic” aimed at coercing the Democratic-led city to devote its police resources to carry out federal immigration priorities.
He urged Sorokin to follow judges in Colorado, Illinois and other states who have dismissed similar cases the Justice Department has filed.
“The Constitution provides a simple answer to this case: the federal government cannot force the city of Boston to carry out its immigration agenda,” Dinning said.
The case is United States of America v. City of Boston, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No. 25-cv-12456.
For the United States: Sean Skedzielewski of the U.S. Department of Justice
For Boston: Sam Dinning of the City of Boston Law Department
Read more:
Trump administration sues Boston over ‘sanctuary’ limits on immigration cooperation
US judge dismisses Justice Dept lawsuit over sanctuary laws in Chicago and Illinois
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston)
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