Trump administration's visit to Boston to probe college antisemitism is off

Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald on Apr 22, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

The feds’ request to visit Boston Wednesday to probe the city’s response to “incidents of antisemitism” at its schools and colleges was not accepted by the Wu administration, at a time when Harvard and the Trump administration are battling.

U.S. Department of Justice officials met with city lawyers, department chiefs and a leader from Boston’s Jewish community on April 9 — in advance of a more intensive meeting with Mayor Michelle Wu that the federal government’s new antisemitism task force had been eyeing for this Wednesday.

Now that meeting appears to be off, according to the mayor’s office, which says that it never confirmed the April 23 sit-down due to the task force’s failure to respond to the city’s repeated requests for details on the “unspecified” antisemitic incidents at its K-12 schools and colleges that the feds said they wanted to address.

“There is no meeting with the DOJ on the schedule this week,” a city spokesperson said in a Tuesday statement. “The task force had requested a meeting to discuss the city’s handling of unspecified incidents, without providing details.

“At the request of the task force, city officials and representatives from the Jewish community met with the task force on April 9, and we have been awaiting more information prior to confirming any additional meetings. We have not heard back.”

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Internal emails reviewed by the Herald show a Department of Justice official first reached out to the Wu administration to set up an in-person meeting with Boston’s mayor, law enforcement leaders and a city attorney on March 14.

A day earlier, Mayor Wu, who has been battling with the Trump administration over immigration and other policies, was sent a letter informing her of the federal task force’s intention to visit her and three other big-city mayors as part of its probe into purported antisemitic incidents at their respective schools and colleges.

“We are aware of information alleging that schools in Boston have faced unacceptable incidents of antisemitic harassment and violence,” Leo Terrell, senior counsel to the assistant attorney general, wrote in the March 13 letter.

“Within the next 30 days, we would like to meet with you to discuss actions, if any, that the city is taking to address alleged discrimination or hate crimes against Jewish individuals in any Boston schools, to include K-12 institutions and post-secondary institutions.”

Internal emails reveal a back and forth between the DOJ’s Kevin Jenkins and city corporation counsel Adam Cederbaum that led to an “advanced site visit” between city and federal officials on April 9 that was aimed at laying the groundwork for a more formal sit-down between task force leadership and Mayor Wu.

While the DOJ representative requested that such a meeting be held this Wednesday, the emails reveal that Wu administration officials were hesitant to confirm that date.

The city’s reticence, per the emails, centered around its request to view the records of antisemitic incidents in Boston that were referenced in Terrell’s letter to Wu.

While the city made the request several times, the feds apparently did not provide the information, and then went silent after the April 9 site visit at City Hall.

“We are working on reviewing our records for specific incidents in the Boston area that we can discuss on the 23rd,” Jenkins wrote to Cederbaum on April 7.

Per the mayor’s office, that April 23 meeting, which was contingent on those records being provided, was never confirmed by the Wu administration, and the city hasn’t heard back from the feds since that early April time frame.

Cederbaum formally accepted a meeting with the federal task force in a March 21 letter to Terrell, that reiterated the city’s desire to view any relevant information that would be discussed ahead of time.

“Boston has one of the most vibrant Jewish communities in the United States, a source of pride and strength for our city and our region, and we stand firmly against antisemitism,” Cederbaum wrote. “We take seriously the discussion of antisemitic incidents that you have requested.

“In order to ensure that we are prepared for a productive discussion with you and your team, we ask that the division share with us any information on the incidents of antisemitic conduct in Boston referenced in your letter.”

The future meeting comes at a time when Harvard University is battling, and now, taking the Trump administration to court. The Ivy League institution filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday after the feds froze more than $2 billion in grants to the Cambridge campus and threatened its tax-exempt status.

The Trump administration has been citing the university’s response to antisemitism as a justification for freezing the grants and taking other actions.

President Trump has targeted schools accused of tolerating antisemitism amid a wave of pro-Palestinian protests on U.S. campuses.

_____