Two sanctuary cities in Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Monday, aiming to keep federal funds flowing into their coffers while refusing to work with federal immigration authorities.
The cities of Somerville and Chelsea sued President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other top administration officials, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. The plaintiffs are demanding that city leaders not be held criminally liable for sanctuary policy and that the Trump administration be barred from withholding grant money in retaliation for sanctuary laws.
The lawsuit follows a string of illegal migrant arrests in Massachusetts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, including migrants with lengthy criminal histories that have been released back into the community in defiance of immigration detainers.
“Defendants’ illegal campaign of bullying and intimidation — to force local jurisdictions to sacrifice local public safety resources, their values, and their determinations about what is best for their residents — is particularly harmful for smaller cities like Plaintiffs, whose residents would be grievously harmed by any termination of federal funding,” the plaintiffs stated in the lawsuit, which was filed by the left-leaning non-profit Lawyers for Civil Rights.
“Plaintiffs rely on various key sources of federal funding — in the range of tens of millions of dollars — to fill critical budgetary needs in the management of their respective cities,” the lawsuit continued.
The lawsuit by Somerville and Chelsea follow a directive handed down by Bondi earlier in February that pulls Justice Department funding from sanctuary cities and calls for an investigation into organizations that provide assistance to illegal migrants.
The DOJ immediately launched a lawsuit against Chicago, Cook County and Illinois for their respective sanctuary policies. Several days after that lawsuit was filed, Bondi announced another lawsuit against New York for the state’s laws restricting cooperation between local police and ICE agents.
There is no official definition for a “sanctuary” law or policy, but the term generally describes any rule that restricts local officials from helping or otherwise cooperating with federal immigration authorities. While local and state officials are largely not required to assist in federal immigration matters, the Trump administration has warned that blatant obstruction is against the law and won’t be tolerated.
Immigration groups, such as the Center for Immigration Studies, label the entire state of Massachusetts as a sanctuary haven for illegal migrants, citing a 2017 court decision that restricts how local officials can respond to ICE detainer requests. Both Somerville and Chelsea have been identified as two of eight localities within the state that have their own sanctuary laws.
Both cities stand to lose substantial funding if federal grants are successfully withheld due to their refusal to work with immigration authorities. Chelsea received roughly $14.4 million in federal funds in fiscal year 2024 and Somerville received around $19.4 million in federal funds, according to a press release by Lawyers for Civil Rights.
In their joint lawsuit, Somerville and Chelsea officials allege the administration’s efforts to defund their police forces and other public services are part of a “politicized” attack on their sanctuary policies. Working with ICE agents or other federal immigration authorities, the plaintiffs argue, would hurt their standing with the local migrant community.
At the same time, Massachusetts authorities have been repeatedly accused of ignoring detainers on heinous criminal migrants, allowing them to be released back into the community and potentially reoffend.
ICE in October accused local officials in the state of ignoring a detainer request on a Guatemalan illegal migrant charged with forcibly raping a child, choosing instead to release him from their custody. The following month, the agency accused other local officials in the state of ignoring a detainer on an illegal Salvadoran national and confirmed MS-13 gangbanger, allowing him to also roam free in the community after being arrested for assault and battery.
In a span of just 48 hours in September, ICE agents operating in the ritzy Massachusetts island of Nantucket nabbed four different illegal migrants charged with sex crimes against children and other individuals. As recently as January, ICE agents announced that a Massachusetts court ignored their detainer request on a Dominican illegal migrant charged with kidnapping and attempted rape.
The Daily Caller News Foundation uncovered that ICE agents working out of Boston finally apprehended Lucio Tomar, an illegal migrant from Cape Verde, after he had been repeatedly caught masturbating and performing lewd conduct in public areas over the course of roughly two decades.
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