BOSTON — What City Hall once billed as a $650,000 legal bill has now exploded into a $750,000 taxpayer fiasco. According to records first revealed by the Boston Herald, Mayor Michelle Wu’s March trip to Washington — staged as a defense of Boston’s sanctuary city policies — has ballooned by another $100,000 in outside legal fees.

The contract amendment obtained by the Herald shows the city is paying $950 per hour to the Manhattan law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel, which represented Wu and city employees in front of the U.S. House Oversight Committee. The city admitted the original contract “did not anticipate the complexity and protracted nature” of Wu’s fight with Congress.

On top of that, Boston residents also covered $9,909 in travel costs for Wu and 11 staffers who tagged along to the nation’s capital. Hotels, flights, and meals for her entourage were quietly added to the public tab. For families struggling with soaring rents and taxes, the picture is clear: Wu’s “defense” of sanctuary status looked more like a junket.

The Herald also noted watchdog outrage. “Mayor Wu should reimburse the taxpayers for this type of reckless spending,” said Paul Craney of the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance. “The city of Boston shouldn’t be on the hook for the mayor’s legal team. The mayor created this mess, but it’s the taxpayers who are bailing her out.”

Wu framed her Washington testimony as political theater — telling Congress that Boston’s sanctuary policies keep the city safe. But behind the curtain, ICE and federal prosecutors have pointed to a grim record of criminal aliens slipping through the cracks in Massachusetts.

Just last month, ICE launched Operation Patriot 2.0 in Boston, rounding up rapists, child abusers, and drug traffickers that critics say were shielded by Wu’s sanctuary stance.

• Victor Gomez-Perez, 33, a Guatemalan national, was arrested on charges including aggravated rape, assault with a dangerous weapon, indecent assault on a victim 14 or older, and assaulting a police officer. He was previously convicted of assault.
• Samuel Armando Barrera-Hernandez, 20, also from Guatemala, was taken in on charges of assault and battery on a child.
• Joshua Gonzalez Baez, 24, a Dominican national, was picked up for heroin trafficking and resisting arrest.
• Brahian Valdez-Placencia, 31, Dominican Republic — facing armed robbery, assault and battery, strangulation, and violation of a court order.

Federal officials said these cases highlight how sanctuary rules let predators slip through the cracks — only to be pulled off Boston’s streets years later by ICE.

These are not isolated incidents — they are the kind of offenders critics say Wu’s sanctuary shield helps protect. While City Hall pours money into $950-an-hour lawyers in Manhattan, families see gang members and violent criminals back on the streets.

Wu’s office did not respond to a request for comment on the ballooning legal bills. Supporters insist sanctuary policies build trust in immigrant communities. But the hard numbers tell a different story: a $100,000 legal overrun, a $10,000 staff junket, and dangerous offenders that federal authorities say should have been handed over but weren’t.

What Wu cast as a proud defense of Boston’s “values” has turned into a financial and political disaster. Taxpayers are left bleeding cash, Washington lawyers are laughing to the bank, and ICE is still cleaning up the fallout from policies that critics say shield the worst of the worst.

Boston families deserve answers — not another six-figure surprise bill.