The police commissioner for the city of Boston said that his officers are prohibited from enforcing immigration law and will not respond to detainers issued by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Commissioner Michael Cox also said during the interview with WCVB-TV on Sunday that he still supports diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in his department.
‘Civil detainers are the defining line, that we just don’t do that because it’s immigration-related.’
“The Boston Police Department has pretty defined rules, and we abide by the law here in the state, and we don’t enforce civil detainers regarding federal immigration law,” Cox said. “Our department abides by Boston law and Massachusetts law. We don’t have the authority to enforce federal immigration law.”
He went on to explain the difference between federal warrants, which he would enforce, and detainers.
“What people don’t understand is there is a difference between criminal warrants and civil detainers,” Cox continued. “Any criminal warrant is someone wanted outside the state, and if there is a warrant involved, we will absolutely enforce it, including federal ones, if there is a warrant involved, because we’re almost mandated to. But civil detainers are the defining line, that we just don’t do that because it’s immigration-related.”
Cox also defended the efficacy of diversity policies in hiring Boston police department members.
“I think it is tremendously important,” Cox responded. “Boston is a very diverse city, from all walks, all religions, all parts of life, so we want our department to reflect that because we deal with all parts of our city.”
He claimed that studies showed diversity policies made organizations more successful and effective.
“If someone doesn’t belong in our department, we remove them, but we have a pretty stringent application process to make sure we bring on the right people,” he said.
“It’s really important that our department reflects the city, and I think it shows up in how we do our job every single day. It has been shown over the years, certainly in business studies, that diverse groups, teams, tend to make better decisions, and actually, even in the private sector, they tend to do better,” Cox added. “When you come from a different perspective, you’re informing someone who’s making a decision about a blind spot that they otherwise wouldn’t know about, which makes for better decision-making.”
President Donald Trump’s border czar Thomas Homan warned local officials against opposing enforcement of immigration law and implied that the administration would seek criminal charges against them.
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