Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley has taken issue with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu over her comments about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Mayor Wu’s assertions, which U.S. Attorney Foley has labeled as “reckless and inflammatory,” pertain to the ongoing ICE operations within the state of Massachusetts.
Mayor Wu, in a recent interview at the WBUR Festival, expressed her concern about what she alleged as indiscriminate arrests by the ICE agents. She claimed, “Folks [are] 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 response, Foley, speaking through a social media video, challenged Wu’s characterization of the federal immigration authorities’ activities in the state. The U.S. Attorney asserted that the agents were not ‘secret police,’ but were openly carrying out their enforcement duties. She stated, “There are no secret police. ICE agents, along with other federal law enforcement partners, are making immigration arrests. That is no secret.”
Mayor Wu, responding at an unrelated City Hall event, stood by her previous remarks. “The U.S. attorney is attacking me for saying what Bostonians see with their own eyes,” she said. Wu emphasized that the ICE operations were creating apprehension within the local communities, thereby affecting the trust in local law enforcement. She pointed out the transparency of the Boston police, who work “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.”
This development follows earlier reports that have highlighted a rising tension between federal immigration authorities and local governments on the issue of immigration enforcement. As it stands, the disagreement between U.S. Attorney Foley and Mayor Wu underscores the ongoing debate about the methods and transparency of ICE operations. And that’s the way it is.