Mayors Across the Country Fight Against Pam Bondi and Trump

The Justice Department has threatened to prosecute local officials who refuse to help Trump’s administration carry out their mass deportation programs. US Attorney General Pam Bondi sent “demand letters” last week to Boston and 31 other states that she alleges cause limitations for police cooperation with ICE.

In response, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and other mayors slammed Bondi in a letter defending Boston’s right not to participate in federal deportation operations, citing court rulings in favor of Boston’s Trust Act. Wu stated that courts have followed it for “valid exercises of local authority and fully consistent with federal law.”

VIA The 19th News

But that’s not where her public letter ended. She proceeded to say that:

"This federal administration's false and continuous attacks on American cities and millions of our residents are unprecedented," she wrote. "You have eliminated healthcare and food assistance for our families; unlawfully cancelled grants for our schools and roads; slashed funding for our universities, hospitals, and research institutions; and deployed military personnel to occupy our streets. These attacks all come back to a common aim: The Trump administration seeks to divide, isolate, and intimidate our cities, and make Americans fearful of one another."

So far, the AG’s office has declined to comment. It’s not clear whether Bondi will stand by her word and follow through with the threats of federal investigations, legal action, and financial sanctions for cities that “disobey” her. The Justice Department also wants to publish communities that provide immigrants with federal benefit programs, like legal aid, food, housing, healthcare, and other subsidies.

Michelle Wu isn’t the only mayor standing up to Trump, either. Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee also took the stand a couple of days ago and promised her residents that her administration will not back down against any threats from Trump.

“When Donald Trump threatens our communities, we stand up, and I stood up to him before, over and over and over again. And as mayor, I will continue to stand firm with you,” Lee said.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson argued that Donald Trump lacks the authority to take control of local law enforcement.

“He’s threatening to deploy federal troops and the National Guard into cities to exert control,” Johnson said. “But those forces don’t even have the policing powers he’s suggesting—they’re not legally able to do what he claims they can.”

It’s also important to note that most of the mayors Trump is targeting are Black. Some of these mayors, he threatened a hostile takeover the same way he has done it to Washington, DC, and others, like Wu, he threatened backlash against their apprehension to support ICE raids.

As the Trump administration ramps up pressure on cities through legal threats and inflammatory rhetoric, mayors across the country are making it clear they won’t be intimidated into abandoning their residents or compromising local authority.

From Boston to Oakland to Chicago, local leaders are pushing back against what they see as politically motivated overreach, rooted not only in a misunderstanding of the law, but in a deeper effort to stoke fear and division.

With court rulings backing their autonomy and a growing coalition of voices defending immigrant communities, these cities are signaling that they will continue to resist federal pressure.

As the pattern of targeting majority-Black leadership becomes harder to ignore, the fight is taking on broader significance.

Not just about immigration policy, but about democracy, equity, and the right of communities to govern themselves without federal coercion.