Bichette wasn't pleased with himself for swinging at a pitch practically in the opposing batter's box, hitting his head with his bat.
But maybe he saw the replay and felt consoled by a fan's efforts.
The ball went directly toward a fan in a gray Sox jersey who used his meal as a glove.
Even more impressively, it was an easy catch for the fan.
That wasn't the only wild fan-related incident this week at Fenway. The day before, a fan caught two different foul balls. He went the easy route with a glove.
The Sox took home a 4-3 extra-inning victory Thursday.
Boston tied the game in the eighth after a wild pitch brought Rob Refsnyder home from third and surrendered a run in the top of the 10th. But they scored two runs in the bottom half to steal the victory and improve to 7-7 in what is a tight AL East race in the early going.
Things get easier for Boston this weekend when they face the lowly Chicago White Sox in a three-game set.
Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville accused ICE Agent Brian Sullivan of violating the rights of the defendant, William Martell-Lebron. Sullivan did not appear in court for the hearing.
"This is a disturbing case," Summerville said. "It's a case of obstruction of justice. It's a case of violating the defendant's right to be present at trial and confront witnesses against him. Couldn't be more serious."
Martell-Lebron was taken into custody last week following the second day of his trial on charges that he provided false information in a driver’s license application. Summerville dismissed the charges against Martell-Lebron.
The assistant district attorney told the court he was aware ICE agents were stationed outside the courthouse but was not aware why and denied working with or providing information to federal agents.
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden was expected to hold a news conference later Tuesday.
The Trump administration has filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court seeking approval to slash hundreds of millions of dollars in grants from the Education Department as part of its efforts to crack down on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the department.
The Justice Department is asking the court to lift a nationwide injunction which is preventing it from terminating the grants under two federal programs.
Earlier this month, Boston-based U.S. District Judge Myong Joun ordered the Trump administration to restore the grants – via a temporary restraining order -- which are disseminated via the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) and Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) programs.
Days later the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to pause Joun’s order, leading to today’s filing. Joun was appointed by former President Joe Biden.
Eight states, including California, accused the Linda McMahon-led department of illegally terminating the grants that Congress had established as a solution to critical teacher shortages, especially in rural and underserved communities. The grants provide more than $600 million in grants for teacher preparation programs, often in subject areas such as math, science and special education, the states have argued.
The Trump administration blasted the injunction in its filing and argued that federal courts were exceeding their jurisdiction.
"This case exemplifies a flood of recent suits that raise the question: Does a single district-court judge who likely lacks jurisdiction have the unchecked power to compel the Government of the United States to pay out (and probably lose forever) millions in taxpayer dollars?" acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote.
"Unless and until this court addresses that question, federal district courts will continue exceeding their jurisdiction by ordering the executive branch to restore lawfully terminated grants across the government, keep paying for programs that the executive branch views as inconsistent with the interests of the United States, and send out the door taxpayer money that may never be clawed back."
The filing argues that the case presents an "ideal candidate" for the Supreme Court to impose restraint on federal courts and the Justice Department argues that its case will likely succeed on the merits.
"This court should put a swift end to federal district courts’ unconstitutional reign as self-appointed managers of executive branch funding and grant-disbursement decisions," Harris wrote.
The appeal will go to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson based on jurisdiction and she will likely ask her colleagues to weigh in. A briefing schedule will be set and an order on temporary enforcement will follow.
The Supreme Court is requesting a response by the opposing parties by Friday at 4 p.m. As well as the state of California, the opposing parties are Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin.
The Education Department previously said the programs teach "divisive ideologies" such as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and the "instruction on white privilege and white supremacy."
The Republican president signed an executive order calling for the dismantling of the Education Department, and his administration has started overhauling much of its work, including cutting dozens of contracts it dismissed as "woke" and wasteful.
A wave of lawsuits has slowed down the Trump administration’s agenda with the Justice Department filing four other emergency appeals of court rulings, including in relation to birthright citizenship and an appeal to halt an order requiring the rehiring of thousands of federal workers.
The justices previously rejected a bid to freeze nearly $2 billion in foreign aid and did not immediately allow Trump’s firing to proceed of the head of a federal watchdog agency.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The U.S. Customs and Enforcement agency (ICE) announced that a massive operation in Massachusetts resulted in nearly 400 arrests, including over 200 apprehensions of illegal immigrants who had serious criminal convictions or charges.
"The Commonwealth is a safer place for our residents to live and work because ICE and our federal law enforcement partners arrested hundreds of alien offenders and removed them from the streets of Massachusetts," ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting Field Office Director Patricia H. Hyde said in a press release.
The operation, which took place between March 18 and March 23, netted the arrests of 370 illegal immigrants in the Boston area. Among those, 205 of the migrants arrested had "significant criminal convictions or charges," the release noted, including six who were "currently facing charges or convictions for murder, drug trafficking, organized crime, and money laundering."
The six-day operation targeted "egregious criminal alien offenders," the release notes, including members of MS-13 and Tren de Aragua who were operating "in and around Boston."
The raids came despite Boston's status as one of several so-called "sanctuary" cities across the country, jurisdictions that restrict local cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Boston’s Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu has doubled down on those policies in recent days, vowing to continue protecting illegal immigrants in the city during her State of the City address last week.
"No one tells Boston how to take care of our own, not kings, and not presidents who think they are kings. Boston was born facing down bullies," she said.
ICE agents were joined by personnel from several other federal agencies, including the FBI, DEA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service and DSS.
"Safeguarding the integrity of the immigration and citizenship process is critical. We simply can’t permit violent and dangerous criminals to enter or remain in the United States under false pretenses, with unknown allegiances and intentions. It’s a direct threat to public safety and our national security," Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division Jodi Cohen said in the release.
Those arrested in the operation included a Dominican migrant who illegally re-entered the U.S. after previously being charged with trafficking fentanyl, a Chilean migrant convicted on four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and a Honduran migrant convicted of rape of a child.
Federal authorities also seized roughly 44 kilograms of methamphetamines, five kilograms of fentanyl and 1.2 kilograms of cocaine during the raid.
"ICE and our federal law enforcement partners are committed to protecting the homeland through the eradication of transnational criminal organizations, dismantling dangerous criminal gangs preying on the American public, locating and arresting criminal alien offenders, and making our communities a safer place to live," Hyde said.
Wu's office did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.
Following a Massachusetts law barring law enforcement cooperation with ICE, illegal child rapists and other serious criminal illegals charged with "horrific crimes" are being released on to the streets on bail as low as $500 and, in some cases, no bail at all.
Responding to these releases, Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, said that Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, both Democrats, "should be ashamed" and that despite their actions, deporting criminal illegals "will be done."
Healey has previously said that Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state. However, a 2017 ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Lunn vs. Commonwealth, bars local and state law enforcement from coordinating with ICE to assist with deportation operations. The ruling stipulates that law enforcement cannot comply with ICE detainers, forcing agencies to release criminal migrants onto the streets.
Last week, Wu renewed her pledge to resist Trump’s deportation efforts, saying, "We stand with immigrants," and "No one tells Boston how to take care of our own, not kings, and not presidents who think they are kings."
However, at least seven illegal immigrants charged with serious crimes, including child rape and fentanyl trafficking, were released by local law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts in recent months, according to CBS.
The outlet reported that in one instance, a 39-year-old Honduran national named Juan Alberto Rodezno-Marin, who was charged with indecent assault and battery on a person over 14, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, masked armed robbery and assault to rape, was released on his own recognizance without having to pay bail.
According to an ICE statement, immigration officials had previously arrested and removed Rodezno-Marin twice for illegally re-entering the U.S., in 2008 and 2009.
Despite these crimes and an ICE detainer being filed against him, the Middlesex Superior Court released Rodezno-Marin in December. He was not arrested by ICE until a month later. He is currently in ICE custody.
Meanwhile, ABC reported the Worcester County Jail released two illegal immigrant inmates charged with child rape on bail of just $500.
Another illegal immigrant, Jose Fernando-Perez, a 49-year-old Guatemalan national charged with three counts of forcible rape of a child and three counts of aggravated rape of a child, was released in 2022 on a $7,500 bail with just an order to "stay in his home."
Fernando-Perez was finally arrested by ICE on Feb. 2 of this year.
At the time, Patricia Hyde, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston acting field office director, said Fernando-Perez’s "horrific crimes against a minor in our commonwealth" made him "exactly the type of alien we are targeting with our ‘worst first’ policy."
In northeastern Massachusetts, the Lawrence District Court released another Honduran national, 19-year-old Stivenson Omar Perez-Ajtzalan, on $7,500 bail despite pending charges of aggravated rape of a child with a 10-year age difference.
CBS reported that two other inmates charged with cocaine and fentanyl trafficking were released with bail amounts of $500 and $4,000.
While speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February, Homan issued a stark warning to Boston and Massachusetts leaders, saying, "You said you doubled down on not helping the law enforcement officers of ICE. I'm coming to Boston, and I'm bringing hell with me."
Today, Homan renewed his criticism of Massachusetts and Boston’s anti-ICE policies and announced ICE arrested a total of 370 illegal immigrants in the Boston area during a five-day joint federal agency operation last week.
"I made a promise at CPAC that I was going to Boston after reading about numerous illegal alien child rapists walking the streets of Boston and Massachusetts," he wrote on X. "Mayor Chu [sic] later testified that I was lying. Well, I traveled to Boston last Tuesday, as promised, and we kicked off a five day operation with ICE, FBI, ATF, DEA, US Marshals and DSS. These incredible men and women arrested a total of 370 Illegal aliens in Boston and surrounding areas."
Homan said that a majority of the 370 illegals were "significant criminals," including four wanted for murder as well as drug traffickers, child sex predators and "numerous other violent public safety threats."
"ICE had to find and arrest these illegal alien rapists because Massachusetts and Boston are sanctuaries that refuse to cooperate with ICE. They would rather release these animals back into the community rather than honor ICE detainers or notify ICE when they are scheduled to be released," he said. "These officers and agents made the neighborhoods of Boston and Massachusetts much safer. They risked their own safety by arresting these criminals on the street, rather than a jail."
"Releasing public safety threats back into the public, rather than working with ICE at the jails, puts the public at great risk," he continued. "President Trump’s ‘all of government effort’ to arrest and remove the WORST FIRST is making our communities safer every day. President Trump is a Game Changer who is keeping his promises to the American people. Much more to do, but it will be done!"
Speaking with Fox News Digital, Logan Trupiano, a representative for the Massachusetts Republican Party, said that while both Healey and Wu "utilize emotion and try to make this an issue of empathy … they're not utilizing any empathy when they're allowing illegal immigrants who were arrested for heinous crimes, particularly crimes against children, and released back in the community to re-offend."
"It's absolutely egregious, absolutely ridiculous, and there's no decent argument against [deporting criminal illegals]," said Trupiano. "All they're really doing is just attacking the Trump administration and mischaracterizing the administration's efforts as well as ICE."
Local leaders and an immigration expert are slamming Boston’s Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu for prioritizing left-wing politics above safety, saying the mayor has proved that she "continues to prioritize political agendas over the safety of Boston residents, particularly women and children."
Wu, who has previously said that Boston would not cooperate with ICE immigration enforcement operations, delivered a raucous "State of the City" address on Wednesday in which she reiterated "we stand with immigrants."
"No one tells Boston how to take care of our own, not kings, and not presidents who think they are kings. Boston was born facing down bullies," she said.
This take, however, enraged some local leaders who say that harboring illegal immigrants from ICE poses a serious threat to local citizens.
Massachusetts GOP spokesperson Logan Trupiano told Fox News Digital that "there is simply no justifiable reason for her to stand in the way of this critical progress."
Despite her claim in the speech to be speaking for all 700,000 Boston residents, Trupiano pointed out that "polling consistently shows that the majority of Americans support these efforts."
"Mayor Wu must move beyond fearmongering and the mischaracterization of ICE and federal authorities," he said, adding, "The city’s sanctuary policies have led to the release of dangerous individuals back into our communities, undermining public trust and security."
He also pointed to the recent spike in arrests of illegal immigrant child sex predators and other serious criminals in the Boston area.
"ICE has apprehended child predators, drug dealers, and gun runners - individuals responsible for heinous crimes that threaten public safety," said Trupiano. "Given the recent arrests made by ICE in Massachusetts and Boston, it is hard to understand why Mayor Wu continues to oppose the Trump administration’s efforts."
Meanwhile, former immigration judge and Center for Immigration Studies policy expert Andrew Arthur told Fox News Digital that sanctuary policies endanger not only citizens but also immigrant communities.
"Sanctuary policies actually harm people in immigrant communities that are sanctuaries because they know that the cops aren’t going to turn those people over to ICE, they're going to turn them back out onto the streets. So, they don't want to come forward [to report crimes], because they're afraid that they're going to be retaliated against," he explained.
"Street cops want criminals off the street," he went on. "They want to help ICE. It's only poorly reasoning public officials that ever promote these policies."
"What we've created is a sanctuary for criminals," said Arthur. "Immigration enforcement is the best way to protect not only communities but immigrant communities in particular."
Jon Fetherston, a former Massachusetts migrant shelter director who lives in the Boston area, told Fox News Digital that Wu’s policies "prioritize political agendas over the safety of Boston residents" and have "emboldened criminal networks, making our communities more dangerous."
He said that Wu’s "Trump Derangement Syndrome" has "made all of us unsafe, especially women and children."
He pointed to the recent arrests of Guatemalan national Sostenes Perez-Lopez, who was charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child in Brighton, and Bilal Karayigit, an illegal Turkish national, who was apprehended in Burlington after being charged with raping a Massachusetts resident.
"Tom Homan cannot get to Boston fast enough!" he said. "Continuing on this path not only endangers our communities but also undermines the rule of law."
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Boston-based expansion team announced Friday that it will be changing its name. The change comes after a wave of transgender backlash to a marketing campaign it abandoned back in October.
The team was set to be named BOS Nation FC, which it announced in a branding event in the fall alongside a marketing campaign that featured the slogan "Too Many Balls." The slogan prompted intense backlash from the transgender community, including an NWSL player.
A transgender player who goes by the singular name Quinn, who plays for the Seattle Reign, spoke out against the team's branding announcement in a post on Instagram.
The team quickly abandoned the slogan, issued a public apology for it, and even thanked those who spoke out against it.
"We fully acknowledge that the content of the campaign did not reflect the safe and welcoming environment we strive to create for all, and we apologize to the LGBTQ+ community and to the trans community in particular for the hurt we caused," the statement said.
"Thank you to all who have held us accountable by calling for us to do better. We hear you and we will, together," said another statement.
Earlier this month, the club hired new chief revenue officer Amina Bulman, the former chief brand and strategy officer for the NFL's Washington Commanders since September 2020, when the team was in transition from its previous "Redskins" branding,
Now the Boston-based women's soccer team is erasing all traces of the branding that came out of its October announcement by opting to change its proposed name as well.
"The club extends our heartfelt thanks to our supporters, whose passionate voices we deeply value -- not just for their unwavering support but also for their honest and critical feedback," majority owner Jennifer Epstein said in a statement.
"We could not have completed this process without your input. We aim to build a lasting legacy that makes all our fans feel welcome, connected, and proud to wear our colors and cheer our name for generations to come."
The issue of trans inclusion in women's sports proved to be one of the most contentious political topics of last fall and the start of 2025, as multiple lawsuits and federal investigations have been prompted by situations involving trans athletes in the last six months alone.
Data suggests the majority of Americans oppose trans inclusion in women's sports, and the issue even played into the 2024 election results.
A New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don't think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports, as 79% of participants said that biological males who identify as women should not be allowed in women's sports. Of the participants who identified as Democrats, 67% said that transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.
A national exit poll conducted by the Concerned Women for America legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of "Donald Trump’s opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls' and women’s sports and of transgender boys and men using girls' and women’s bathrooms" as important to them.
Additionally, 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was "very important."
FIRST ON FOX: The impact of a migrant surge at one sanctuary city airport is being revealed in new information provided to a Senate committee investigating the handling of the Biden-era migrant crisis.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is the chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, recently subpoenaed the Massachusetts Port Authority for documents that Republicans on the committee had requested last year about the use of facilities to allow migrants to shelter at Boston Logan International Airport.
Migrants had been seen camping out at airports at the height of the Biden-era crisis as migrants descended on sanctuary cities like Boston.
"Donald Trump put a stop to Biden’s open border policy, but a full investigation of this scandal is vital to both prevent its future reemergence and hold accountable those complicit in Biden’s lawless immigration orders," Cruz told Fox News Digital last month.
In the responses to the committee by Massport, obtained by Fox News Digital, the port authority estimated that more than 5,000 migrants arrived at Logan between July 2023 and July 2024.
"... Massport estimates that 5,500 migrants flew into Logan Airport during the period resulting in actions taken to respond to the unprecedented arrival of migrants to the airport," the agency said in response to questions.
At the peak, there were 352 migrants staying at Logan Airport in a 4,100-foot area of Terminal E. The authority said migrants were taken to state centers every morning, although some returned and stayed there.
As for how much the stays cost, authorities estimated the cost per day was $2,520 and the total cost was around $779,000 for additional staffing, services and transportation. Between July and November 2023, the average number of migrants staying overnight was less than 100, but in the following months the highest daily averages were in April (181), May (265) and June (262).
Officials said it did not reduce the capacity of the airport and that "all actions were taken in accordance with Federal and state law, to afford the traveling public with a safe, secure, efficient and orderly airport operation."
The officials also said that no cost was passed on to the taxpayers. Instead, the majority of costs were absorbed by Massport, while $332,000 of additional costs were passed on to air carriers, and at "no point were airport facilities turned into housing for migrants."
They further noted there were "time-to-time minor conflicts" from migrants, but none requiring arrests or criminal charges.
Ultimately, migrants were barred from using the airport as a shelter and instead were offered taxpayer-funded accommodation in July 2024.
"As of July 9, 2024, there was a policy change announced by the state that migrant families could no longer stay overnight at Logan, and no families have stayed at the airport since then," a Massport spokesperson said. "We are working closely with the Committee to voluntarily cooperate fully with their request."
Lawmakers had initially requested information from Massport last year, arguing that the use of facilities to house migrants violated the conditions of federal funding.
The new push comes amid a broader push by the Trump administration to crack down on arrivals at the southern border. Numbers of migrants at the border plunged last summer and have continued to drop under the new administration.
Republicans are pushing back against so-called sanctuary cities and jurisdictions as President Donald Trump ramps up plans for mass deportations.
"All of the mayors here today are actively working to harm the American people you represent," Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told the mayors of four sanctuary cities during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday. "You all have blood on your hands."
The comments, which were addressed to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and New York City Mayor Eric Adams, come as the Trump administration continues to push the speedy deportations of illegal immigrants that the president promised on the campaign trail.
But those efforts have been hindered by sanctuary jurisdictions, which have passed rules that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities, most notably by not honoring U.S. Immigration Customs and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) detainer requests.
The four mayors who testified at Wednesday's hearing represented some of the largest sanctuary jurisdictions in the country, a policy that has generated controversy amid multiple high-profile crimes that have been committed by illegal immigrants.
"Sanctuary mayors owe the American people an explanation for city policies that jeopardize public safety and violate federal immigration law by releasing dangerous criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets," House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chair James Comer, R-Ky., said in a press release before the hearing.
One sanctuary jurisdiction that was not represented at the Wednesday hearing was California, which in 2018 passed "Trump-proof" legislation aimed at protecting the state’s illegal residents from federal immigration authorities.
San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond told Fox News Digital that the law, SB 54, has severely limited what local California jurisdictions can do to fight back against illegal immigration.
"They can’t do anything about it," Desmond said of the state’s local law enforcement agencies under SB 54, adding that even if officers see suspected illegal immigrants coming ashore in boats, they are forbidden from helping enforce federal immigration laws.
"That’s been hindering California as far as law enforcement and immigration enforcement," Desmond said.
Desmond noted that some California jurisdictions have even gone further than SB 54, putting additional barriers in place to hinder immigration enforcement.
"My colleagues in December voted to not allow our law enforcement in our jails to be able to notify ICE directly that this person who has been convicted and tried and sentenced and now in our jails is here illegally," Desmond said.
"They now have to get a warrant from a state or federal judge to turn anybody over to ICE," he added, noting that the rule is "just another obstacle blocking law enforcement."
"My Democratic colleagues are trying to put more obstacles in the way of actually reporting criminals to ICE," Desmond said.
Nevertheless, Trump border czar Tom Homan has vowed to fight back against sanctuary cities, saying last month that federal authorities are "going to keep coming" no matter what road blocks are put in the administration’s way.
"They're not going to stop us," he said during an appearance on Fox News. "It's less efficient to arrest a bad guy in public where he's hiding from us, and we're trying to arrest him on his turf rather than arrest them in a county jail, which is where we should be arresting them. It takes one agent to arrest the bad guy in the county jail. It takes a whole team to find somebody that doesn't want to be found in the neighborhoods, but we're going to keep doing this."
That effort is being boosted by Trump’s GOP allies in Congress, who on Wednesday sought to highlight the dangers posed by sanctuary policies.
"Every crime committed by someone in the United States illegally is a crime that would not have been committed. Laken Riley, Ruby Garcia, Rachel Morin, Jocelyn Nungaray, the woman set on fire in the New York subway, these are all assaults, rapes, murders and other crimes that would not have taken the lives of these people if those people were not here illegally," Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Ala., told the four mayors. "They were given safe harbor."
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu responded to critics who accused her of being excessively sympathetic to a would-be stabber who was killed by the police, accusing them of "politicizing" the situation.
The suspect, who was identified as 32-year-old Lmark Jaramillo, was killed by an off-duty police officer after he allegedly tried to stab at least two people in a Chick-fil-A restaurant near Boylston Street. The officer identified himself and instructed Jaramillo to drop his weapon before pulling the trigger, police said.
On Monday, Wu said it was "unfortunate to politicize being at the scene of a tragic incident."
"Our officers are in extremely difficult and dangerous situations every single day keeping our residents safe," the politician, who took office in 2021, said. "I expressed condolences, along with our police commissioner and district attorney, because every loss of life is a horrible tragedy."
Wu also said she is grateful "every hour of every day for the work of our Boston police officers."
"In this case, we had an off-duty officer who saw something happening, his training kicked in, and took action and surely saved even more lives," she added.
Wu was responding to a question about criticism from Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., over her condolences.
"Condolences from the mayor of Boston – wait for it – to a knife-wielding man trying to kill people!" the South Carolina congresswoman previously wrote. "Thankfully this guy was stopped in his tracks by a brave law enforcement officer."
At Saturday's press conference, Wu notably did not reference the victims of the attempted stabbing. Instead, she said she was thinking of those "impacted" by the incident, which transpired in "one of the busier parts" of Beantown.
"My condolences, and all of our thoughts, are with the family of the individual whose life has been lost," Wu said. "And I'm also thinking of all the people who were impacted here today in one of the busier parts of the city with this tragedy."
"I'm glad that the officer is safe and very grateful for a quick response from all of our first responders here again," she continued.
It wasn't just Mace – conservatives across the country slammed Wu for appearing regretful over the death of the suspect.
One of Wu's many online critics was conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who suggested that the 40-year-old leave office.
"Boston, I’m going to say this as simply as I can: You desperately need a new mayor. Trust me," Kirk wrote.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha, a former Boston resident, also expressed disbelief at Wu's response.
"How exactly did Boston vote for this again?" Concha wrote. "I lived in the Back Bay area. It was one of the safest parts of the city. And she’s offering condolences????"
Wu will head to Washington, D.C., this week, where she is slated to testify before Congress on Boston's sanctuary city policies. She is one of four Democratic mayors planning to speak.
Fox News Digital reached out to Wu for comment on Monday, but did not immediately hear back.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu raised eyebrows over the weekend after she expressed condolences to the family of a knife-wielding suspect who was shot and killed by an off-duty officer after he allegedly tried to stab two people on Saturday night.
The suspect, whose identity was not released by police, brandished a knife near a Chick-fil-A on Boylston Street, a busy part of the Massachusetts capital. He was fatally shot by an off-duty police officer who saw him targeting the two victims, police said.
During a Saturday night press conference, Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said that the officer identified himself to the suspect and asked him to drop his weapon.
"The individual was trying to stab the two individuals in the store, and the off-duty officer identified himself as a police officer, instructing them to drop the weapon, at which point the individual did not comply," Cox explained. "The officer discharged his weapon to stop the threat, and the individual was struck. The armed individual was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead."
Cox added that he was "proud of police officers who activate themselves, whether it's on duty or off duty, to try to save lives."
After Cox and Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden both expressed some sadness over the loss of life during the incident, Wu notably did not express sympathy for the two people who were nearly stabbed by the suspect, just those "impacted" by the incident, which happened in "one of the busier parts" of Beantown.
"My condolences, and all of our thoughts, are with the family of the individual whose life has been lost," Wu said. "And I'm also thinking of all the people who were impacted here today in one of the busier parts of the city with this tragedy."
"I'm glad that the officer is safe and very grateful for a quick response from all of our first responders here again," she said.
Wu's remarks were called out by critics across the country on social media shortly after she spoke. Journalist Jonathan Choe wrote that "[i]t's all upside down in Boston."
"When is the last time you heard of a mayor apologizing to the family of a knife wielding attacker who allegedly tried to kill multiple people?" Choe questioned. "What about the people who were nearly killed?"
"Boston, I’m going to say this as simply as I can: You desperately need a new mayor. Trust me," conservative commentator Charlie Kirk said in a different X post.
Fox News contributor Joe Concha, a former Boston resident, also weighed in on the incident.
"How exactly did Boston vote for this again?" Concha wrote. "I lived in the Back Bay area. It was one of the safest parts of the city. And she’s offering condolences????"
"Condolences from the mayor of Boston - wait for it - to a knife-wielding man trying to kill people!" Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., said. "Thankfully this guy was stopped in his tracks by a brave law enforcement officer."
The incident came as Boston officials, including Wu and Cox, have attracted criticism from conservatives for implementing sanctuary city policies. Catherine Vitale, a former city council candidate, told "Fox and Friends" last week that she believes Wu "doesn't care" about crime in Boston.
"There's tons of crime almost every single day. There's a shooting. We don't always hear about them, but we hear them because we're there. I don't think that most of the crime actually even gets reported on. People don't get arrested. Charges don't get pressed on people who are looting stores," Vitale said.
Wu is expected in Washington, D.C., this week as one of four Democratic mayors slated to testify before Congress on sanctuary policies.
Fox News Digital reached out to Wu for additional comment but did not immediately hear back.
Fox News Digital's Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
"Sanctuary mayors owe the American people an explanation for city policies that jeopardize public safety and violate federal immigration law by releasing dangerous criminal illegal aliens back onto the streets," House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., said in a press release announcing the hearings, which are set to take place Wednesday.
The hearing, which will take place in front of a full committee, comes as so-called sanctuary cities, jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities, have come under increasing scrutiny since President Donald Trump regained control of the White House in January.
While Trump has seemingly made quick work of the situation at the southern border, attention has turned to his promised mass deportation efforts, a process that can be helped along if state and local agencies work hand-in-hand with federal authorities.
But some cities have for years now taken the opposite approach, refusing to comply with federal enforcement measures such as detainers placed on illegal immigrants by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Those sanctuary policies have often generated controversy, most notably in the wake of a handful of high-profile crimes committed by illegal immigrants who were allowed to duck deportation proceedings.
"These reckless policies in Democrat-run cities and states across our nation have led to too many preventable tragedies," Comer said in the release. "They also endanger ICE agents who are forced to take more difficult enforcement actions in jurisdictions that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities."
Now the mayors of four of the biggest sanctuary cities will attempt to justify their policies in front of what could be a hostile Congress, with one report from Politico noting that the mayors will be seeking to sidestep the kind of "embarrassing" episode that plagued several Ivy League presidents who were testifying about antisemitism on their campuses in 2023.
The report notes that all four mayors have been working with advisers and lawyers and prepping to redact documents ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, with the thought of University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill being ousted in the aftermath of her appearance at the 2023 hearing fresh in mind as they seek to avoid similar missteps.
The hearing could sway the political futures of Chicago’s Brandon Johnson, New York’s Eric Adams, Boston’s Michelle Wu, and Denver’s Mike Johnston.
Yet the Politico report notes that not all of the mayors will be so quick to cast aside their support for sanctuary laws.
"I just want to make sure that people understand that [this is] a city that has been established by immigrants and migrants who were formerly enslaved," Johnson told reporters last week when speaking of Chicago. "It’s the global capital of the world, and we’re going to continue to show up at our very best."
Adams, meanwhile, may try to tout his recent cooperation, including his decision to sign an executive order that allowed ICE agents back into New York City's Rikers Island jail complex.
That move drew the ire of Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., who threatened to have Adams removed from office, though she later backtracked from that plan for the time being and instead vowed reforms aimed at reigning in the mayor's power in the city.
Just how those answers sit with members of the committee remains to be seen, though Comer promised that the four mayors would be pressed for answers.
"The policies in Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City prioritize criminal illegal aliens over the American people," Comer said in the release. "This is unacceptable and their leaders must be held accountable. We will press these mayors for answers and examine measures to enforce compliance with federal immigration law."
The Boston City Council member who recently mocked Border Czar Tom Homan's employment history walked back her comments in a follow-up post about the Trump administration official.
Councilwoman Sharon Durkan, who accused Homan of spending his career "policing a town smaller than a Fenway Park crowd," posted a clarification shortly after a Fox News Digital request for comment on Sunday evening.
"Yes, I understand that Tom Homan spent his career as a federal agent within Border Patrol & ICE, but that’s a world away from the realities of policing a major city," Durkan explained. "His background is in immigration enforcement, not community policing – where trust and accountability are key."
The Smith College graduate raised eyebrows after mocking Homan's brief stint as a police officer in West Carthage, New York, implying that he was unqualified to enforce President Donald Trump's border policy in Boston because of that experience. But Homan's time in the small-town department only lasted from 1983 to 1984, before he became a Border Patrol agent and eventually worked his way through the ranks of the Obama and Trump administrations.
"Laughable that someone who spent their career policing a town smaller than a Fenway Park crowd thinks they can lecture Boston on public safety," the councilwoman's original Feb. 23 post read. "Commissioner Michael Cox serves with distinction and earns trust with integrity."
"Tom Homan should know, we don’t scare easy," Durkan added.
Durkan's remarks came after Homan called out Beantown during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, specifically calling out Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox for enforcing the city’s sanctuary policies.
"I'm coming to Boston, and I'm bringing hell with me," Homan said during his speech. "I looked at the numbers this morning... I stopped counting at nine. Nine child rapists that were in jail in Massachusetts, but rather than honoring an ICE detainer, you released them back into the street."
"You're not a police commissioner," the Trump administration official added. "Take that badge off your chest. Put it in the desk drawer. Because you became a politician. You forgot what it’s like to be a cop."
Massachusetts and the greater Boston area have seen several arrests of criminal migrants in recent weeks, including an illegal immigrant connected to a violent Brazilian gang who was recently arrested in Bellingham. Cox has previously said that his department "doesn't enforce detainers" that are filed by ICE, and that Boston cops "abide by Boston law and Massachusetts law."
"The Boston Police Department has pretty defined rules and we abide by the law here in the state," the police chief said on a segment of WCVB’s "On the Record" show. "We don’t enforce civil detainers regarding federal immigration law. It's defined here in the state, and that’s just how it works."
Fox News Digital reached out to Durkan for additional comment, but did not immediately hear back.
Fox News' Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
A member of the Boston City Council called out Border Czar Tom Homan in a post on social media, calling his promises to enforce President Donald Trump's border policy "laughable."
Councilwoman Sharon Durkan posted her response on X after Homan said he would "bring hell" to Beantown after Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox recently doubled down on the city’s sanctuary policies.
"You said you doubled down on not helping the law enforcement officers of ICE. I'm coming to Boston, and I'm bringing hell with me," Homan said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday. "I looked at the numbers this morning... I stopped counting at nine. Nine child rapists that were in jail in Massachusetts, but rather than honoring an ICE detainer, you released them back into the street."
"You're not a police commissioner," Homan continued. "Take that badge off your chest. Put it in the desk drawer. Because you became a politician. You forgot what it’s like to be a cop."
Durkan responded by mocking Homan for briefly serving as a police officer in the village of West Carthage, New York, in the 1980s. He became a Border Patrol agent soon after, and has since worked for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Obama administration, as well as the first Trump administration.
"Laughable that someone who spent their career policing a town smaller than a Fenway Park crowd thinks they can lecture Boston on public safety," Durkan's post read.
"Commissioner Michael Cox serves with distinction and earns trust with integrity," the city official continued. "Tom Homan should know, we don’t scare easy."
In a recent interview, Cox said that Boston "doesn't enforce detainers" that are filed by ICE, per Massachusetts law.
"We just don’t do that," Cox said on a segment of WCVB’s "On the Record" show. "We don’t enforce civil detainers regarding federal immigration law. It's defined here in the state, and that’s just how it works."
The Boston office of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) has overseen the arrest of several criminal migrants in recent weeks, including MS-13 gang members.
Earlier this month, ERO Boston officers apprehended an illegal alien from Guatemala who was charged with multiple counts of child rape.
Fox News Digital reached out to Durkan for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
Fox News Digital's Peter Pinedo and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
After being attacked by an immigrant rapist, Jon Fetherston, a former Massachusetts migrant shelter director, is blowing the whistle about the "rampant" abuse in the Massachusetts migrant shelter system, which he said is "just a big, colossal mess."
Fetherston, who served as the director of the Marlborough migrant shelter from 2023 to 2024, said that the amount of crime, domestic abuse and child neglect that takes place in the Massachusetts migrant shelter system is "mind-boggling." In an interview with Fox News Digital, Fetherston revealed that he was grabbed and attacked by a Haitian immigrant after he was confronted about raping and impregnating his own teenage daughter.
The Maine Wire first broke the story about the Haitian migrant, Ronald Joseph, 42, impregnating his then 13-year-old daughter. Joseph repeatedly raped and impregnated his daughter while staying at a government-funded migrant shelter at a Holiday Inn in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
A report by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities obtained by Fox News Digital says that after being informed he would lose access to his daughter, Joseph "got very agitated and started yelling" at Fetherston that "this was all his fault, and he was to blame."
Fetherston told Fox News Digital that as soon as Joseph heard he was losing custody of his daughter, he "reached across the table and grabbed me and got angry with me and started cursing and yelling and screaming and swinging at me because he realized what was happening."
"I'm going to be honest; the entire experience has shaken me to my core," said Fetherston.
He clarified that "it's not so much the lunging at me and swinging" but rather the conversation that jarred him the most.
"The conversation was probably the most jarring conversation I've ever had in my life," he said. "His justification for having sex with his daughter was — and he did say it through an interpreter; he didn't say it in English — that in his country — which his country of origin was Haiti — if a woman bled, meaning if she had her period, you could have sex with her and that was his justification for having sex with his daughter."
Rather than arresting Joseph immediately, Fetherston was directed by authorities to order the immigrant a Lyft ride to another shelter in Worcester County. Joseph was not arrested until eight months later when Marlborough police finally apprehended him earlier this month.
"The Marlborough police came and calmed him down and actually had me transfer him to another shelter," he explained. "I asked the Marlborough police like: ‘Why isn't he being arrested? He admitted to this. At least why aren't you just detaining him at the very least?’ And they're like: ‘We'll figure it all out.’ It took them eight months to figure it all out."
Though this case was particularly egregious, Fetherston said that "there is a lot of undocumented violence that goes on" and that rape, domestic violence, sex trafficking, drug dealing and other crimes are so commonplace in the Massachusetts shelter system that many incidents simply fall through the cracks.
"I will tell you, unfortunately, that it happens a lot," he said. "There were times when I was running the shelter that there probably should have been times when I should have done more reporting, you just didn't have the time to do it."
"It's just a big, colossal mess," Fetherston added. "I've been in public service most of my adult life, either through elective office or volunteering. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the migrant shelters would be the chaos that it is… It's a systematic problem, that there is chaos in these communities and the public has the right to know what is going on."
The former shelter director said that before quitting his job he brought his concerns about the widespread abuse to Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll — both Democrats — but neither gave him the time of day. Although Healey recently vowed to reform the shelter system and begin mandatory background checks on residents, Fetherston said there have yet to be any real changes.
Despite promises of reform, the legislature renewed shelter funding at $425 million through June with no new changes.
"People are frustrated from top to bottom," he said. "The governor has spent over $3.5 billion just of the taxpayers’ money just on the migrant hotels [and]… just last week the Senate and House passed [a bill] to fund this migrant program until July of this year, zero reform, zero mandatory checks."
"The governor says that all this stuff is coming," he concluded, "and ultimately, at the end, there was no reform put in the package. It was just the approval to fund the shelters through the end of July. So, there is no reform."
While speaking on a segment of WCVB’s "On the Record" show, Cox, who was appointed as police commissioner by Wu in 2022, said that in line with state and city laws, Boston police officers "don’t have authority to enforce federal immigration law."
Pressed on whether this policy conflicts with federal immigration law, Cox said that "the Boston Police Department has pretty defined rules and we abide by the law here in the state."
"We just don’t do that," he said. "We don’t enforce civil detainers regarding federal immigration law. It's defined here in the state, and that’s just how it works."
Both the Boston "Trust Act," passed in 2014, and a 2017 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling known as Lunn vs. Commonwealth both limit law enforcement entities in the city and state from cooperating with ICE "detainer" requests to hold illegal immigrants for potential deportation.
Speaking on the same show shortly after the presidential election, Wu said: "Elections have consequences, and the federal government is responsible for a certain set of actions, and cities, no individual city, can reverse or override some parts of that. But what we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way, that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large scale economic impact."
ICE has said that such policies endanger local communities by forcing the agency to track down illegals and to make often high-risk arrests in public spaces.
Despite this, and repeated criticisms by the Trump administration and border czar Tom Homan, Cox insisted that his department "abides by Boston law and Massachusetts law," saying: "We don’t have the authority to enforce federal immigration law."
"From our perspective and what we tell anyone who comes to visit our city, lives in our city, is that we don’t care about your immigration status, but what we do care about is: Are you a victim of crime in our city or are you a victimizer, right? We will hold you accountable for that, and that doesn’t matter what your immigration status is," he said.
Asked what he would say to Massachusetts residents who are concerned that the Boston Police Department’s policy does not protect them, the commissioner tripled down, saying: "We just don’t have the authority to enforce federal law." He also went on to say that "what people don’t understand is that there is a difference between criminal warrants and civil detainers" and that "if it’s a warrant involved, we will absolutely enforce it."
Homan, meanwhile, has warned jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal immigration enforcement authorities, telling them: "Don’t cross that line." On her first day in office, Trump’s U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi ordered a 60-day pause on federal funding to migrant "sanctuary cities."
In response to the possibility of Boston having its federal funding cut or removed, Cox said, "We could not be as safe as we are without the help of the federal government. They are partners with us, so I don’t know why that would be undone. But when it comes to financing and income flows into our city, I can only control what we can control, whether it’s the city council, through a budget process every year, or however, the way people talk about funding the police department."
House Republicans are calling on sanctuary city mayors to testify next month about the policy's impact on public safety and the refusal to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Tenn., chair of the GOP-controlled House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said he was launching an investigation into sanctuary cities across the United States to determine whether they have complied with federal immigration enforcement laws.
In a letter, he asked Michelle Wu, Brandon Johnson, Mike Johnston and Eric Adams, the mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City, respectively, to provide documents and information related to the sanctuary policies of each city.
They were each asked to testify at a public hearing on the matter on Feb. 11. Fox News Digital has reached out to each mayor.
"On his first day in office, President Donald Trump took decisive actions to restore the rule of law," Comer wrote on X. "It is now imperative that our immigration laws are enforced across the country and that criminal aliens are swiftly removed from our communities."
The letters said 12 states and hundreds of cities and counties across the country have sanctuary policies. However, Comer said the four cities singled out "stand out in their abject failure to comply with federal law."
Sanctuary cities limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Supporters argue that enforcement of immigration is the job of the federal government.
Opponents say sanctuary policies harbor criminals, as well as those in the country illegally, and put the public, including illegal immigrants, at risk.
Adams has spoken out against criminal illegal immigrants, who he said put New Yorkers at risk. In addition, he has said he is willing to work with Trump Border Czar Tom Homan.
Meanwhile, Wu, the Boston Mayor, has said her city won't cooperate with Trump's mass deportation program, despite the region seeing a number of illegal immigrants with criminal charges released back onto the streets.
"Elections have consequences, and the federal government is responsible for a certain set of actions, and cities, no individual city, can reverse or override some parts of that," she told WCVB-TV in November. "But what we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way, that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large scale economic impact."
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the City of Boston said: "We are proud that Boston is the safest major city in the United States. We have received the letter and are reviewing it."
Chicago Mayor Johnson has doubled down on his support of the city's sanctuary policies.
"I find it unconscionable that this administration would attempt to create not just division but fear within our public schools," Johnson said, referring to potential federal raids.
He has directed city departments to "stand firm and uphold the local ordinance" in compliance with the Illinois Trust Act, which prohibits local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement efforts.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has also supported sanctuary policies despite the presence of members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Denver and the suburb of Aurora.
On Sunday, federal agents arrested 50 members of the gang in Colorado and seized drugs, weapons, and cash, authorities said.
In his first week after returning to the White House, Trump has rescinded multiple directives and has targeted illegal immigrants with criminal records in a series of raids.
Raids by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been reported in Colorado, New York City, Buffalo, N.Y., Boston, California, and Minnesota, with hundreds of illegal immigrants being detained.
The city elected Michelle Wu in 2021 in a race against Annissa Essaibi George. Wu earned 64.0% of the vote to George's 35.6%. Wu replaced Marty Walsh, who served as the city's mayor for the previous two terms.
Ed Flynn, the former president of the Boston City Council and son of former mayor Raymond, has declined to run, while Jorge Mendoza-Iturralde has declared to run.
Kraft is currently the president of the organization's foundation and runs the family's philanthropic initiatives. He also worked at the city's Boys & Girls Club for 30 years.
Robert bought the Patriots in 1994 and helped turn the team into one of the greatest dynasties in sports history. Under his leadership, the team has been to 10 Super Bowls, winning six of them.
Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic, is facing criminal charges in federal court for illegally possessing an AR-15 and ammunition and over 400 grams of fentanyl with intent to distribute, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Kraft's reported decision to run for office comes amid President Donald Trump's inauguration, although despite previous support, Robert recently said he has not spoken with Trump since the events of Jan. 6, 2021, unfolded.
Tom Brady told Howard Stern on Sirius XM in April 2020 that he chose to distance himself from Trump when the former president launched his presidential campaign in 2015 and asked the former NFL star to speak on his behalf at the 2016 Republican National Convention.
Fox News' Jackson Thompson and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
Wu failed to respond to repeated requests for comment from Fox News Digital, despite the migrant shelter involved being just a short drive from Downtown Boston.
Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic, is facing criminal charges in federal court for illegally possessing an AR-15 and ammunition and over 400 grams of fentanyl with intent to distribute, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
Boston 25 News also reported that Sanchez was also caught possessing cocaine with "an estimated street value of at least $750,000." He is currently being kept in custody by state authorities.
Sanchez was storing his weapon and drugs in his room at the Quality Inn Hotel in Revere, Massachusetts, which is a government-funded shelter for migrants.
Despite this, Healey expressed anger over the incident, saying, "It’s outrageous that this individual took advantage of our shelter system to engage in criminal activity."
Healey ordered an inspection of all shelters, starting with the Quality Inn Hotel in Revere, as well as a "full review" of the state’s shelter intake processes.
"This further underscores our broken federal immigration system and the urgent need for Congress and the White House to act on a border security bill to prevent criminals from entering our communities," said Healey. "The people of Massachusetts should not continue to have to deal with the impacts of federal inaction."
However, Wu, who has said Boston’s sanctuary policies "make everyone safer," has remained silent. Although Fox News Digital spoke with Wu’s office, neither she nor her office have issued any response to Sanchez’s arrest.
Since Trump’s 2024 electoral victory, Wu has doubled down on Boston’s sanctuary city status, saying police and city officials would not assist federal authorities with deportations.
Trump’s incoming border czar Tom Homan has called out Wu for pledging resistance to the administration’s immigration agenda, telling Newsmax in November that "she’s not very smart."
"President Trump is going to prioritize public safety threats," said Homan. "What mayor or governor doesn’t want public safety threats out of their communities? I mean that’s your number one responsibility is to protect your communities and that’s exactly what we’re going to do."
Massachusetts has seen a spike in illegal migrants arrested for sex offenses over the last several months as the state and city of Boston have pledged to resist President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations.
Since August, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officials have arrested 26 illegal migrants in the Boston area for sex crimes against children ranging from child rape to sexual assault to distributing child pornography.
Many of these migrants were previously removed from the U.S. only to later illegally re-enter the country.
As recently as Dec. 3, an illegal migrant, Adrian Patricio Huerta-Nivelo, 25, was removed by ICE after it was discovered he was wanted for rape of a minor in his home country of Ecuador.
Nivelo’s removal came just a day after the Boston City Council unanimously voted to reaffirm a 2019 measure restricting Boston police’s ability to cooperate with ICE in deporting illegal migrants. The measure seeks to protect immigrant communities from "unjust enforcement actions" and restricts Boston police’s ability to cooperate with ICE and bans police from keeping migrants in custody for possible deportation unless there is a criminal warrant.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has also vowed that state police would "absolutely not" assist Trump in the mass deportations operation.
Despite this, a spokesperson for Healey denied that Massachusetts is a "sanctuary state," telling Fox News Digital that "as a former prosecutor and attorney general, the governor believes violent criminals should be deported."
Boston officials have been largely silent on the series of sex crimes against residents in the city. Mayor Michelle Wu, a Democrat, and the Boston City Council did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Boston ICE officials arrested six illegal migrants for sex crimes against children in November.
One of the most recent arrests, announced by ICE on Dec. 5, involved a 46-year-old Honduran national named Salvador Castro Garcia, who is charged with indecent assault and battery of a child under 14.
Garcia was previously deported in 2001 but then re-entered the country at an unknown location and time. ICE took Garcia into custody on Nov. 21 after he was released on bail by the Brockton District Court.
In addition to Garcia, Boston ICE ERO officials arrested Felix Meletz Guarcas, a 45-year-old Guatemalan national, on Nov. 20 after he was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault of a minor.
According to an ICE statement, the Rhode Island Department of Corrections refused ICE’s request to hold Guarcas in custody, forcing agents to make a dangerous arrest in a public parking lot. ICE is currently holding Guarcas in custody pending a hearing before an immigration judge.
On Nov. 18, Boston ICE officials arrested Belardis Tapia Gonzalez, a Dominican national charged with second-degree child molestation-sexual assault, and Alexandre Romao De Oliveira, who was charged with rape of a child in his home country of Brazil.
Billy Erney Buitrago-Bustos, a 42-year-old Colombian migrant, was arrested by ICE in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Nov. 15 after being charged with rape of a child by force, statutory rape, and aggravated rape against a minor.
On Nov. 12, ICE arrested Guatemalan illegal migrant Mynor Stiven De Paz-Munoz, 21, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, after he was charged in Massachusetts with rape of child by force, rape of a child and indecent assault and battery against a minor.
Boston ICE ERO arrested three illegal migrants for child sex crimes in October.
Officials arrested Andre Tiago Lucas, 36, from Brazil, on Oct. 31. Lucas fled his native country after being convicted of the rape of a 13-year-old child.
Two more migrants – Colombian national Mateo Hincapie Cardona, 28, and 20-year-old Guatemalan national Selvin Alex Galvez-Mejia – were arrested by Boston ICE ERO on Oct. 29 and Oct. 18, respectively.
Cardona is charged with enticing a child under 16, distribution of obscene matter, and lascivious posing and exhibiting a child in the nude. Mejia is charged with rape and indecent assault and battery against a minor.
Boston ICE officials arrested nine illegal migrants charged with sex crimes against children in September.
Maynor Francisco Hernandez-Rodas, a 38-year-old Guatemalan national, was arrested by Boston ICE ERO on Sept. 20. He was charged with forcibly raping a Massachusetts minor.
Within a single week, seven illegal migrants - Abraham Malpica, Sept. 13, Angel Gabriel Deras-Mejia, Sept. 12, Enrique Alberto Ortiz-Brito, Sept. 12, Felix Alberto Perez-Gomez, Sept. 11, Gean Do Amaral Belafronte, Sept. 11, Jefferson Jerome, Sept. 11, Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo, Sept. 10, Elmer Sola, Sept. 10 – were arrested by Boston ICE officials for sex crimes.
On Aug. 1 Jorge Luis Castro-Alvarado, 28, Guatemala, was arrested after raping a Massachusetts resident.
In August, six illegal migrants – Akim Marc Desire, 18, Haiti, Warley Neto, 24, Brazil, Elmer Perez, 49, Guatemala, Cory Bernard Alvarez, 26, Haiti, Marc Kervens Beauvais, 34, Haiti, Jackson Bento-Pinheiro, 35, Brazil – were arrested by Boston ICE for sex crimes against children.
