Trump’s pick for top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts will crackdown on illegal immigration – The Boston Globe

The country’s 94 US attorneys are political appointees who historically step down following a change in administration from one political party to another. That usually leaves the first assistant US attorney to lead the office until the president’s nominee passes an intensive background check and is confirmed by the Senate. Local observers say Trump appears to be moving faster.

“I’d expect a short window of time for the Trump administration to act on these positions,” said Boston attorney Brian T. Kelly, a partner at Nixon Peabody LLP and former federal prosecutor who headed the public corruption unit. “It’s different this time because he is focusing on appointments across the board because his victory was so clear cut. … He also now has experience with the federal bureaucracy and realizes that these things take time to get approved so he’s got to act quickly.”

The US attorney for Massachusetts oversees about 200 attorneys, paralegals, and other staff in offices in Boston, Springfield, and Worcester.

Kelly, a Republican, has been mentioned in legal and political circles as a contender for the US attorney job under Trump, but declined to say if he is vying for it other than to say, “Anyone would be honored to be considered.”

Kelly represented Trump in a civil case brought earlier this year by a group that unsuccessfully tried to remove him from the Republican presidential primary ballot in Massachusetts. The case was part of a national effort to remove Trump from ballots, claiming he was ineligible to serve because of his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, an argument that was unanimously rejected by the US Supreme Court.

Others being touted as possible nominees are Andrew Lelling, who served as US attorney for Massachusetts during Trump’s first term and is a partner at Jones Day; Assistant US Attorney Leah B. Foley, who was a finalist for the job when it went to Lelling and is deputy chief of the narcotics and money laundering unit; Robert Fisher, a partner at Nixon Peabody LLP and former federal prosecutor; and Nathaniel Mendell, a partner at Morrison Foerster who was Lelling’s first assistant and led the office for 10 months before Rachael Rollins was sworn in in January 2022 following a contentious, partisan battle for confirmation.

They all declined to comment on whether they are seeking the job.

Fisher did say he thinks Trump will tap “someone known to one of the advisers who has his ear” or has ties to his transition team.

“What he’s looking for is obviously a conservative who is aggressive on the type of crime they’re looking to target: guns, drugs, and illegal immigration,” Fisher said.

Trump has specifically vowed to make a crackdown on illegal immigration a top priority.

Carmen Ortiz, who served as US attorney for Massachusetts from 2009 to 2017 during the Obama administration and resigned a week before Trump’s first inauguration, predicted the president-elect’s administration will aggressively crack down on all types of immigration cases in Massachusetts because it is home to a number of sanctuary cities. Moreover, some local political leaders, including Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, have said they won’t assist federal law enforcement in any mass deportation efforts, leading to early public verbal exchanges with Trump’s advisers.

“I think they are planning to do as much as they can to send a message on day one,” Ortiz said. “They want to send a message with very aggressive enforcement initiatives.”

Ortiz said that would likely include prosecuting people who are in the country illegally, even if they have not committed crimes; prioritizing immigration fraud, and possibly conducting raids on work sites. As a result, she predicted the US attorney’s office will be tasked with pursuing more criminal cases connected to illegal immigrants, and also with defending the Trump administration in civil cases if it pursues its pledge to conduct mass deportations.

Mendell, who led the US attorney’s office before Rollins took over, agreed that immigration would be a core issue during Trump’s second term, but said, “The emphasis will be people who are here illegally who also have serious criminal records and have been previously deported.”

He also predicted Trump’s attorney general will direct prosecutors to seek harsher penalties for defendants in some cases than those recommended under the Biden administration.

“Violent crimes will be approached differently, more aggressively,” Mendell said.

B. Stephanie Siegmann, a partner at Hinckley Allen and former federal prosecutor who served as chief of the national security unit in the Massachusetts US attorney’s office until 2022, predicted the Trump administration will make national security threats from China, Russia, and Iran a higher priority.

“There has been a coordination in alliances between China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea that are of grave concern,” Siegmann said. “We face unprecedented national security threats from those countries.”

Siegmann said a national strike force launched by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in February 2023 to prevent China and other nation–state adversaries from stealing advanced technology from the United States will likely be expanded upon under Trump.

The next US attorney for Massachusetts will inherit an office that was thrown into tumult during the Biden administration while Rollins, the progressive former Suffolk district attorney, was at the helm. She resigned in May 2023 amid two blistering reports by the Justice Department’s Inspector General and the US Office of Special Counsel, which found she committed a series of flagrant ethics violations, including engaging in partisan political activity while on duty.

Joshua S. Levy, who was Rollins’s second-in-command, has been running the office as acting US attorney since May 2023. Biden nominated him for US attorney in October 2023, but a confirmation vote was blocked in the Senate by Vice President-elect JD Vance. On Monday, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Levy to the position of US attorney, but he will be required to step down in mid-January when his interim appointment expires.

Just over a week after winning the election, Trump announced he would nominate Jay Clayton, the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange commission to serve as US attorney for the Southern District of New York, which oversees Manhattan. He has also nominated former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi to lead the Department of Justice.

Shelley Murphy can be reached at shelley.murphy@globe.com. Follow her @shelleymurph.