Boston Mayor Michelle Wu defended her characterization of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as “secret police” on Wednesday following scathing criticism by Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley, who called Wu’s comment a “false narrative.”
Federal immigration officers have not been “sharing exactly who was arrested and why,” Wu told reporters when asked about Foley’s criticism outside an unrelated event at Boston City Hall. “The U.S. attorney is attacking me for saying what Bostonians see with their own eyes.”
The exchange of criticism stems from comments Wu made about ICE during the WBUR Festival this past weekend.
“Every aspect of what’s happening at the federal level is causing harm in our local communities,” the mayor said during an interview. “People are terrified for their lives and for their neighbors, folks getting snatched off the street by secret police who are wearing masks, who can offer no justification for why certain people are being taken and then detained.”
In a video shared on social media Wednesday morning, Foley called the “secret police” comment offensive. She also pushed back against the idea that people are being “snatched off the street” and said Wu’s statements were “reckless and inflammatory.”
“There are no secret police. ICE agents, along with other federal law enforcement partners, are making immigration arrests. That is no secret. They are arresting individuals who are here illegally, which is a violation of federal law,” the U.S. Attorney said. “Every enforcement action is conducted within the bounds of the Constitution and our laws with oversight, legal justification and accountability. To claim otherwise is a gross misrepresentation and a disservice to the public.”
During her response to Foley on Wednesday, Wu doubled down, justifying her characterization of ICE agents based on their mask-wearing, The Boston Globe reported.
Boston police enforce the law “without wearing masks, displaying their badges publicly, with body cameras that document the interactions that take place with full transparency, because we have nothing to hide,” she said. “I don’t know of any police department that routinely wears masks.”
Wu went on to state that “other groups routinely wear masks,” such as New England-based neo-Nazi group NSC131, the Globe reported.
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons — who was the head of ICE’s Boston field office until his promotion earlier this year — said Monday that federal immigration agents wear masks because people have been taking pictures of them and posting them online along with death threats.
“I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not going to let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line and family on the line,” he said.
Lyons addressed the issue during a press conference in which he announced that ICE had detained nearly 1,500 people across Massachusetts during the month of May.
ICE arrests have led to outrage in many Massachusetts communities over the past month.
On May 12, the arrest of a Brazilian mother on the streets of Worcester led to a heated confrontation between protesters and law enforcement and charges against three women — including a city councilor.
Last week, the arrests of around 40 people on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket left the islands “full of fear,” the Vineyard Gazette reported.
Finally, the Milford community has been rocked by the arrest and detainment of an 18-year-old high school student over the weekend.
