BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey decried Trump administration border czar Tom Homan's "fixation" on Massachusetts on Tuesday, a day after he disclosed that he visited the Bay State last week as federal law enforcement agents arrested 370 individuals across the state.
"I don't know what the fixation is, to be quite honest. We're a very safe state," Healey told reporters in a Statehouse hallway Tuesday afternoon when asked about her perspective on Homan's visit. "We're not a sanctuary state. Local, state and federal law enforcement continue to work with and partner with one another."
Gov. Maura Healey, shown during an event at Lenox Town Hall last week, said she was puzzled by what she called border czar Tom Homan's "fixation" with Massachusetts. "Local, state and federal law enforcement continue to work with and partner with one another," she said.
Homan, who previously vowed to come to Boston, has threatened to bring "hell" to the capital city, which he views as a "sanctuary city" where local officials do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
The border czar, who was featured at the Mass. Republican Party convention in 2022, divulged in a tweet Monday that he traveled to Boston last week, as federal agents arrested 370 "illegal aliens" in the state. Homan said the majority of those individuals were "significant criminals," including six foreign fugitives.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said agents also targeted transnational criminal organizations, including the MS-13, Tren de Aragua, Trinitarios, and 18th Street gangs.
"Governor Healy [sic] and Mayor Wu should be ashamed of supporting sanctuary policies," Homan tweeted.
The Department of Homeland Security, which retweeted a Fox News story Tuesday about the Boston arrests, said, "The reckless policies of Sanctuary Cities, like Boston, make America less safe."
At a March 5 congressional hearing focused on so-called sanctuary cities, Wu called Boston "the safest major city in the country" and defended the city's approach to immigrants. Boston's Trust Act limits local police from working ICE.
ICE said that "many" of last week's arrests, which spanned March 18-23, came after "local jurisdictions refused to honor immigration detainer requests to turn over the offenders and instead chose to release aliens from custody, forcing officers and agents to make at-large arrests in Massachusetts communities."
At least 10 people were apprehended in the Berkshires, where Sheriff Thomas Bowler said last week that he heard nothing from federal immigration authorities about the crackdown.
Healey brushed aside any suggestion that Massachusetts was unsafe because of local immigration policies.
"As a former attorney general, I can assure you that I'm doing everything I can to support the work of those in law enforcement to address issues of crime in communities," she said. "I'll also remind people that Massachusetts is among the safest states in the country, and I'll leave it at that."
The governor pointed out Massachusetts State Police members were recently honored at a Department of Justice ceremony with President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Healey said MSP members were recognized "in their work on the investigation and the takedown of the Trinitarios gang."
"So I'm not quite sure I understand what's going on here," Healey added.