Community leaders are preparing to preserve Boston’s immigrant and international student populations as the incoming Trump administration warns of a national immigration crackdown, which leaders say would be morally and economically detrimental to the city.
The 2022 United States Census estimated there were approximately 184,000 immigrants in Boston, about one in every four residents. More than half of these immigrants, 52.7%, were U.S. citizens at the time of the census.
President-elect Donald Trump promised to launch the largest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in history on day one of his presidency, a vow to mobilize the military to “get the criminals out.” According to the 2022 census data, 23% of Boston immigrants were undocumented.
“It will be an attack on the humanity of people who live in Boston,” City Councilor Benjamin Weber said of the plan. “It will be an attempt to rip apart families based on where some members of that family were born, and it’s going to be our responsibility as a city to do what we can to protect our own residents.”
Alex Train, chief operating officer of La Colaborativa, a nonprofit organization aiding Latino and immigrant communities across Greater Boston, said he is expecting “an era of unspeakable uncertainty” under Trump.
“We are deeply disturbed by the immigration agenda that the new administration has announced,” Train said. “This will have acute impacts on both our community members, given the harsh, callous approach, as well as to the Greater Boston economy.”
Weber and Train said a number of vital sectors could be hindered by Trump’s federal budget cuts. The “long list” includes infrastructure, special education services, workforce development, food security, public health and housing.
Mayor Michelle Wu publicly said on Sunday Boston would not cooperate with the federal government should a mass deportation campaign ensue. In response, Trump’s border czar nominee, Tom Homan, said “either [Wu] helps us, or she gets the hell out of the way” in an interview with Newsmax.
Weber said the Trump administration will likely revive its threat to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities that resist its immigration policy.
“With a Supreme Court that seems willing to endorse any policy that comes out of the Trump administration, I’m worried about the threat to harm our city even more, beyond something as draconian as mass deportations,” Weber said.
Boston schools also voiced concerns about the potential threat to international students’ education under a second Trump presidency.
Trump promised to reinstate his travel ban, an executive order banning immigration from a handful of predominantly Muslim countries, and increase scrutiny of visa applications.
In the first full academic year after Trump took office, U.S. universities witnessed a 6.6% decrease in international student enrollment, according to a 2020 study. The study reported one-third of international students who decided against studying in the U.S. labeled the political climate and the Trump administration as reasons why.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology issued a statement on Nov. 12 urging its international students to prepare for extended visa processing times and not to travel based on “rumors” online predicting new regulations.
Shortly after, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Office of Global Affairs issued a travel advisory to international students, asking them to “strongly consider” returning to campus before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2025, to prevent possible travel disruptions.
In 2024, international student enrollment in the U.S. hit a historic high of 1.12 million, a 7% increase from the previous year. Boston University currently hosts almost 13,000 international students, according to an email to The Daily Free Press from the U.S. Department of State.
This year, international students added more than $50 billion to the U.S. economy, with those in Massachusetts alone contributing almost $4 billion, said Marianne Craven, acting deputy assistant secretary of academic programs in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Craven works with initiatives like the Fulbright Program, Gilman Scholarships, Humphrey Fellowship Program and IDEAS grant to promote international education and diversify who studies abroad and where they go.
“[American students] can have an engagement with international students, get those diverse perspectives, learn firsthand about the countries that those students are from, build relationships,” Craven said. “What we’re looking to see is students creating professional and personal relationships that will endure throughout their lifetimes.”
Train voiced concern Trump’s second term could be “quite worse” for immigrants than his first, as he will be equipped with the support of the Supreme Court, a Republican-dominated Congress and a familiarity with presidential powers.
“They know exactly how to carry out an agenda,” Train said. “We do worry that they’re going to be more effective in their work when it comes to implementing [policies] that they’ve put forward.”
In anticipation of Trump’s return to the White House, Train said La Colaborativa is bolstering emergency housing systems, immigration services and safety net programs, while preparing to preserve economic mobility within the immigrant community.
“We can set a local and state policy that seeks to safeguard communities, particularly addressing the gaps that are going to emerge from federal funding cuts,” Train said. “We want to be here to support, stabilize and usher the community through this time.”
Boston’s 10-year-old Trust Act prohibits police from acting as federal immigration officers or colluding with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. However, Weber said he is unsure how effective the Trust Act will be in combating the will of the president and protecting immigrants from deportation.
“I’m not sure how much of a role we can play in stopping them from acting pursuant to presidential executive orders,” Weber said. “But I don’t think that should stop us from trying.”
Weber emphasized the importance of the city’s immigrant community and said mass deportations would be a “huge hit” to Boston’s economy, culture and humanity.
“This is a city of immigrants,” Weber said. “We rely on families from all over the world to come here to be part of the fabric of the city and make it stronger.”
