Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is facing criticism over a city program that uses taxpayer money to train immigrants in advocacy and political organizing while excluding American citizens from enrollment. The eligibility rules include immigrants who are not U.S. citizens, as reported by The Gateway Pundit.

Immigrants Lead Boston is administered by the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement.

The program is designed for emerging leaders interested in advocating for Boston’s immigrant communities and becoming more involved with local government.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has a scholarship program for people to learn to become activists and only illegals and foreigners are allowed to apply. No American-born citizens. How is this legal?? @AAGDhillon https://t.co/soGXsBSJtM pic.twitter.com/kj3go2tvsT

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 28, 2026

During the 10-week program, participants meet city officials and receive training intended to help them engage with the city government.

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They also learn how to organize within their communities, according to the program description.

Participants can receive a $575 scholarship for completing the program.

Critics have focused on the combination of taxpayer funding, organizing instruction, and eligibility rules that leave citizens born in the U.S. unable to participate.

The restriction has drawn criticism online from those who view the program as a city-funded political operation available exclusively to immigrants.

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The program’s critics argue that Boston residents who are American citizens are being forced to fund an opportunity they cannot access.

“That is not charity. That is a political pipeline built to shut citizens out of their own city,” one user wrote on X.

According to Boston’s website, the program does not conduct a legal status check on applicants. The program page states that immigrants may apply “regardless of their immigration status.”

That language opens eligibility to green card holders, DACA recipients, refugees, asylum seekers, and undocumented residents.

The program therefore includes several categories of immigrants, including people who are not U.S. citizens and those who lack legal status.

At the same time, native born Boston residents are barred from applying, according to the account based on the city’s website.

That exclusion has become a central part of the backlash surrounding the program and its use of public money.

Immigrants Lead Boston is currently in its 7th cohort under Wu.

The program initially launched under former Mayor Marty Walsh in fall 2020 before being continued and expanded by the Wu administration.

The program’s stated purpose is to help immigrants become advocates for their communities and learn how to interact with Boston’s government.

Its structure connects participants with city officials while providing instruction in organizing and government engagement.

Critics characterize that structure as political activist training financed by taxpayers.

They have also objected to the $575 scholarship offered to participants who complete the 10-week course while American citizens remain ineligible to enroll.

The controversy is not simply about whether Boston should operate an immigrant leadership program.

The sharpest criticism concerns a city program that excludes citizens while accepting applicants without regard to immigration status and offering them taxpayer-supported scholarships.

The source article also questioned whether a program barring American citizens while using tax dollars could be legal.

It did not provide a legal finding, but it presented the exclusivity requirement as a serious concern surrounding the city initiative.

It further asked, “What is the end goal here? To teach recent arrivals to America to protest the country that took them in?”

That question reflects the broader criticism of using public funds to provide organizing instruction exclusively to immigrants.

Wu’s administration has nevertheless continued the program, which now operates through the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement.

Applicants accepted into the course receive access to city officials, government engagement training, community organizing instruction, and the possibility of a $575 scholarship.

The city’s own eligibility language remains at the heart of the dispute.

Immigrants may apply regardless of immigration status, while citizens born in the U.S. cannot participate in the program they help finance through taxpayer dollars.

STUNNING: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is handing out taxpayer-funded stipends to immigrants regardless of legal status

Unbelievable. "And I've asked 100 Democrats give me one downside on a secure border. They can. This is by design. This is their plan." pic.twitter.com/Vv3whPyV4z — DeVory Darkins (@devorydarkins) September 29, 2026

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