Battenfeld: Michelle Wu the new national face of the migrant crisis, but could she pay a price?

Michelle Wu is the new national face of the migrant crisis, outmaneuvering Gov. Maura Healey as the most extreme lefty in Massachusetts.

Wu is the perfect foil for Donald Trump, a far-left progressive hero and first nonwhite male mayor of liberal Boston who held a holiday party excluding white people and has vowed to protect illegal immigrants from Trump’s mass deportation plan.

She is now the poster child for the Trump resistance, even though Healey has said basically the same thing about defying Trump, somehow Wu has taken the most flak from the right.

Incoming border czar Tom Homan called her “not very smart” and Fox News hosts singled her out this week, even calling on officials to send illegal migrants to her house in Roslindale.

The Boston mayor could try to take advantage of her newfound notoriety by positioning herself as Trump’s main liberal foe, especially as she’s gearing up for her reelection run.

She could reap the benefits by raking in national fundraising dollars and doing free media to increase her exposure.

But there are huge risks of backlash for Wu. She could be seen as an unreasonable obstructionist, defending migrants accused of serious crimes like sexual assault.

She may surpass Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as examples of the extreme left, a position she may not want.

Wu could be seen as being anti-public safety, especially in light of ICE’s new emphasis on rounding up illegal migrants wanted on criminal charges. She can’t be protecting people who are wanted for major felonies.

It’s one thing to be defending poor migrants, it’s another to be obstructing ICE from arresting child molesters.

ICE this week announced the arrests of two illegal immigrants who have been charged with forcible rape in Massachusetts. Are these the people she’s going to be defending?

Her policies could be seen as shielding people ICE is pursuing, putting her police officers, who are sworn to uphold the law, in a difficult position.

She has boasted of Boston’s low crime rate and declining murder rate, but now she’s putting federal law enforcement in danger?

Trump would love to make Boston a national example, possibly withholding federal funds and grants. Is she prepared to fight that?

She may relish her national role but regret it if Trump gets in a confrontation with her. Wu’s power as mayor is limited when it comes to federal authorities.

What can she possibly do if they start making arrests?

Boston Police won’t stand in the way of ICE and actively obstruct them, but they won’t assist ICE, either.

In her comments this week, Wu deftly responded to Homan, drawing a line between Trump’s “mass” deportation promise and rounding up criminals.

“I think there’s a little bit of talking out of both sides of their mouth,” Wu said this week of the Trump administration’s plans, “in both saying they’re only prioritizing cases of extreme concern and criminal activity, while also describing it as mass deportation as a premier campaign promise. Those two are not the same. And what we hear, what our community members hear, is mass deportation.”

The mayor added, “We are reaching out to our broader community to say ‘Here are the spaces where the city of Boston does not interact with, and does not communicate around immigration status, so you know you are safe in accessing public safety at the local level, in bringing your kid to school, in coming to our community centers.”