- Opposes mass deportations but endorses efforts to remove violent felons from the streets
Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft vowed to resist President Trump’s plans for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants while laying out his vision for the city during an appearance on El Mundo Boston’s “La Hora del Café” livestream morning news and talk program.
The first-time political hopeful debuted a detailed response to the White House’s immigration crackdown policy for viewers during his lively 60-minute appearance Tuesday on the award-winning show.
Kraft, 57, endorsed efforts to remove violent felons from the streets but pushed back on the new administration’s plans to uproot families and loved ones whose only legal transgression was committing a civil violation by being in the U.S. without proper documentation.
“First, I support removing violent criminals from our community, wherever they come from,” said Kraft, reading from a policy statement. “There is a protocol in place to do just that, called the Trust Act,” which directs Boston police to cooperate with federal authorities to remove criminal aliens.
The former president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, who is challenging incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu, slammed Trump and his blunt-spoken Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief, Tom Homan, who promised he is “bringing hell” to Boston to sweep the city of illegal migrants.
“It is outrageous to think about ICE officers raiding schools or places of worship to round up undocumented immigrants who are not engaged in criminal activity,” said Kraft, the only declared major challenger so far in the 2025 contest.
“I’ve spent my life working with the immigrant community in and around Boston. I know their character and the contributions they make to the City of Boston.”
Kraft announced his campaign during an event in the Grove Hall neighborhood of Roxbury on Feb. 4. Speaking in the heart of Boston’s Black community—considered a key swing demographic in the municipal race—he said the first-term mayor has failed to listen to Bostonians and has pushed through unwanted proposals.
Kraft hammered on that theme during his La Hora del Café appearance, repeatedly promising to not just listen to activists and residents but to actually hear them.
Wu, who topped citywide votes during multiple terms as an at-large city councilor before her 2021 mayoral victory, has been enmeshed in controversies over bike lanes that restrict traffic flow, an agreement to lease White Stadium in Franklin Park to a group of women’s professional soccer team investors, and her proposal to raise taxes on commercial property at a time when the industry is suffering from record vacancy rates.
But Kraft faces his own challenges, like convincing voters that someone who has never voted in a Boston election and only recently moved into the city is the right candidate to tackle Boston’s housing crisis and lead the charge against Republican efforts to gut federal programs that send billions of dollars to New England’s largest city.
Critics have also questioned Kraft’s progressive credentials. He is currently the president of the New England Patriots Foundation, launched by his father, Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots.
The elder Kraft is a past supporter of President Trump, who recently named his wife to the board of the Kennedy Center in Washington.
“First of all, I’m a Democrat,” said Josh Kraft on the show. “I’ve voted 95% for Democrats, and if you look at my political donations, 95% have been to Democrats. I proudly supported Kamala Harris in the last election.”
Donald Trump, he added, is not “fit to be the president. I don’t think he has the character, the temperament, or the ethics to be president.”
“In the end, I love my dad—I love him to death. We agree on many things, but we disagree on Donald Trump.”
Dressed casually and engaging in relaxed banter with La Hora del Café’s morning team, Kraft projected an earnest demeanor, even engaging in a few moments of self-deprecating humor.
But he made his points succinctly, especially while criticizing Wu’s efforts to close the housing affordability gap in Boston, where the average unit now goes on the market for close to $1 million.
“I know there are 26,000 permitted units of housing waiting for shovels in the ground,” he said. “The problem is that the affordability guidelines of 20% are just too high in the current economic climate.”
Kraft said he would bring the affordability requirement back down to the 13% level that prevailed during the prior administration of Mayor Marty Walsh.
He would also use the estimated $130 million in tax revenue generated from those new units to increase rental assistance and support first-time homebuyers, especially members of the city’s workforce who currently can’t afford to own in Boston.
He said he would also create an opt-in rent control program to give landlords a 20% annual tax rebate if they agree to hold down rent hikes.
Kraft acknowledged Boston’s low homicide rate and gave the administration credit for achieving a record drop in murders while raising concerns that many neighborhood residents, especially around Downtown Crossing and in communities like Roxbury and Dorchester, don’t feel safer.
He offered no specifics to address their concerns other than to hear them out—emphasizing once again the contrast he’s drawing in his campaign between the perception of Wu’s imperious style and his slightly rumpled, regular-guy listening image.
“The number one thing is to hear from the leaders and the neighborhood associations to better understand how to best make them feel safe.”
