FLASHBACK: Boston’s segregationist Asian mayor says everyone in the world has ‘legal right’ to US residency

In the months since, Massachusetts' emergency shelter system has struggled to keep up with demand as illegal migrants continue to seek refuge in Beantown and other sanctuary cities across the state.

"We really have been experiencing, as every city across the country [is], a crisis when it comes to migrant families who are a little bit stuck in limbo," Wu said during an appearance on Boston Public Radio in May when pressed on the issue.

"Every person, every human being has the legal right to come to the United States and seek asylum or shelter," she continued, "but when the review of that individual's particular situation and the decision to allow the pathway to stay and the work authorization that comes with that, when that process is so drawn out, people are stuck."

Wu claimed that as a result of mismanagement by the Biden administration, she and other city officials had been forced to pick up the slack and deal with those who had "fall[en] through the cracks."

"This is an issue that will continue, it sounds like, only to ramp up," she said of the illegal immigrant crisis.

Just three months later, Massachusetts declared a state of emergency after the number of people utilizing the shelter system rose by 80 percent in just one year.

"It's exponentially more than our state has ever served in our emergency assistance program," Gov. Maura Healey said at the time, per CBS News. "These numbers are being driven by a surge in new arrivals in our country who have been through some of the hardest journeys imaginable."

According to NPR, as of December, 7,500 families were staying in such shelters in communities across the state.

Boston has taken in far more illegal immigrants than other cities and towns, with well over 1,000 recorded in its shelters. Many have since filled up, forcing illegal immigrants to sleep in the airport instead.

State officials have passed nearly $600 million in funding for the system, however as Boston25News reports, that is still far short of the anticipated $1 billion per year needed to pay for it all.

Wu came under fire in December after it was revealed that she was hosting a holiday party for "electeds of color," in which no white officials were allowed.

An email invite was accidentally sent from her staffer Denise DosSantos to all city council members, including the white ones, and then rescinded. DosSantos apologized for accidentally sending the invite to white people. Wu later apologized for the same thing, but did not apologize for holding a "no whites allowed" holiday party