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Mayor Wu announces new efforts to restrict ICE in Boston
Boston is banning ICE from using city property, and local police are being told to investigate federal agents that break city or state laws.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signed an executive order Thursday that prohibits federal officials from using city property for immigration enforcement purposes, directs local police to investigate any potential crimes committed by federal agents, and takes a number of other steps to preemptively prepare for the possibility of an ICE surge.
Wu announced the directive alongside other municipal leaders, who signed similar orders Thursday and uniformly criticized the Trump administration.
The move, Wu said, was directly informed by the “cruelty” and “violence” displayed by immigration enforcement officials in Minnesota and Maine. The federal government recently pulled 700 federal officers out of Minnesota after weeks of backlash to the killings of two American citizens there and widespread reports of racial profiling and the excessive use of force. An “enhanced operation” in Maine led to hundreds of arrests before ending last week.
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Wu, who has made many speeches criticizing the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts, continued to evoke the American Revolution in her comments.
“We will not allow the birthplace of American democracy to be knocked off our path by those who have turned their backs on our founding principles,” she said.
Wu’s executive order refers to a “moment of national crisis” and condemns tactics used by ICE to “create fear and escalate tension.” It directs local police to prioritize de-escalation tactics to protect peaceful protesters in the event of a surge in ICE activity. It orders city officials to publicly release footage from surveillance cameras and body-worn cameras capturing any violence or property damage committed by federal agents.
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Boston police will investigate all allegations of criminal conduct, even by federal agents. Local police will document these incidents, and any investigations will be independent of any federal investigations. The city will use all legal avenues to secure cooperation from federal authorities, including gaining access to all evidence collected by federal agents and conducting independent interviews with any federal agents involved.
The Wu administration will be communicating to residents that it is proper to call 911 in response to the warrantless entry of private homes and businesses by federal agents. Staff at municipal buildings like schools, libraries, and senior centers will be issued guidance about what to do if federal agents attempt to enter without a valid warrant.
The Trump administration is barred from using city-owned property to stage immigration raids or process detainees, Wu’s executive order says.
Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson said that such tactics had already been seen in his city. Federal authorities have used a police parking lot, a high school sports stadium, and a public cemetery for these purposes.
“The federal government needs to hear that the intentional infliction of fear and chaos on our communities must stop,” Nicholson said.
Gathered alongside Wu and Nicholson were leaders from Cambridge, Somerville, Chelsea, Newton, and Medford. Labor leaders, Boston City Council members, law enforcement officials, and religious leaders joined them as well.
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Last week, Gov. Maura Healey filed legislation and signed an executive order of her own with a similar intent to rein in ICE operations. While Healey and other leaders have voiced outrage at many of the Trump administration’s actions, the deadly crackdown in Minnesota is spurring more concrete action.
Somerville Mayor Jake Wilson, a Minnesota native, said that the reports from his home state have had a visceral effect.
“As a son of Minneapolis, I’ve watched in horror as my hometown was invaded and occupied as a political stunt that served no purpose other than sowing terror, and suffering, injury, and even death, as we’ve seen,” he said.
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden referenced an incident last year where ICE agents detained a man facing criminal charges mid-trial. The federal agency is actively undermining public safety, he said, and interruptions to court proceedings have continued.
“This does not help public safety one bit,” Hayden said.
Hayden assured residents that his office would “immediately” be present at any crime scenes involving federal agents. In Minnesota, local authorities were shut out of the investigation into the killing of Renee Good.
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Hayden also stressed that residents have the right to protest peacefully and monitor law enforcement activities without the threat of violence or detention.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan delivered impassioned remarks about the importance of constitutional rights. She praised local police in Massachusetts while denouncing ICE agents.
“We have so many wonderful police departments across this state. We have invested so much time and effort in training them, in training them to de-escalate, to build community trust, to be able to serve — truly serve — a community,” Ryan said, before referring to federal agents. “How dare these people call themselves law enforcement.”
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