The Trump administration filed suit on Thursday against the city of Boston, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, and the Boston Police Department, challenging an ordinance that limits the local police force’s ability to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

The Trump administration’s complaint centers around the doctrine of preemption , which holds that federal law may displace state law if the state law frustrates a purpose or objective of a federal law or inappropriately encroaches on an area that has been specifically reserved for the federal government.

Immigration has consistently been deemed a province of the federal government. For instance, 8 US Code § 1373 states that no official may “prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, or

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