A Boston District Attorney and a Boston judge are getting a well-deserved lesson in constitutional law and the Supremacy Clause, and it's coming from U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley. It seems an Immigrations & Customs Enforcement officer, Brian Sullivan, arrested an illegal alien in a Boston courtroom, pursuant to a valid federal warrant. Now the DA is threatening Sullivan for taking the illegal alien out of the courtroom, and the judge in the case has already found Officer Sullivan in contempt for arresting the illegal alien during the trial - and both of them may well now be in the second half of the famous "Fool Around, Find Out" cycle.
Fox News's Bill Melugin has details:
NEW: The illegal alien ICE Boston arrested during his criminal trial had prior arrests for serious drug trafficking charges & was arrested on a valid federal warrant, according to the US Attorney in Massachusetts. She is now threatening felony charges against the Boston DA, who…
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 3, 2025
The balance of the post reads:
She is now threatening felony charges against the Boston DA, who said he is considering charging the ICE agent who arrested the alien after he was held in contempt of court by a Boston judge for making the arrest.
Leah Foley, US Attorney in Massachusetts, writes the following in a letter to Suffolk County (Boston) DA Kevin Hayden:
"The fact that you disfavor ICE officers doing their jobs is not a basis for criminal charges. In fact, there is no legal basis for such charges. You may very well disagree with the enforcement of our federal immigration laws, but it is inappropriate to suggest to the public that federal officers can be criminally prosecuted by your office for performing their official duties. Any attempt or threat to interfere with the lawful actions of federal government agents will not be tolerated. It is a felony offense to assault, resist, oppose, impede, intimidate, or interfere with an immigration officer's efforts to duly execute the immigration laws of the United States."
Officer Sullivan, we note, was doing his duty. He had a valid federal warrant for the arrest. Boston, as a "sanctuary" city, would very likely have released this criminal to the streets, a criminal with serious drug trafficking charges. And, if Boston was a responsible jurisdiction that cooperated with federal authorities enforcing immigration law, the high-profile courtroom arrest would not have been necessary; ICE could have rolled up to the back foor of the jail and picked the perp up.
She also sent a letter to Judge Mark Summerville, who held the ICE officer in contempt for arresting the alien during his trial.
"It is well settled that the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution immunizes federal officers from state prosecution, including contempt proceedings for actions taken in the course of their official duties. Please be advised that this court lacks any authority whatsoever to proceed in this matter with respect to ICE officer Brian Sullivan."
The Supremacy Clause, Article VI, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, reads:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
This would include legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by the president - like, say, immigration laws. It is against federal law to interfere with a federal officer in the discharge of his lawful duties, and that is precisely what DA Kayden and Judge Summerville are doing.
In this matter, both the district attorney and the judge, people who presumably should have known better, are finding themselves way out of their league. She is already experienced in matters like this, having previously served as lead attorney for Boston's Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force. A Trump appointee, she is already showing that she won't be trifled with, that she knows the law and the Constitution, and that she won't brook any nonsense from a DA or a judge with an agenda.
And that agenda is baffling. These "sanctuary city" politicians, DAs, and judges are working to keep criminals in their cities. That's acting directly against the best interest of the people of the State of Massachusetts and the City of Boston, but we can hope that the voters of Massachusetts in general and Boston in particular are self-aware enough to notice safer streets with these people gone and to vote accordingly.
See Also: Tired of Winning Yet? ICE Nabs Nearly 400 Illegal Aliens in 'Sanctuary City'
'Rent-Free': Border Czar Tom Homan Responds Accordingly to Michelle Wu's 'Shame on You' Criticisms
You can read US Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley's letter in full here.
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