BOSTON (WHDH) - The Department of Homeland Security is starting round two of its immigration crackdown in Boston, with ICE agents looking to make more arrests.
This increase is again being met with pushback from city and state leaders.
Dubbed “Patriot 2.0”, DHS officials told CNN their plan is to “target the worst criminal illegal aliens living in Massachusetts”.
The first round came in May, resulting in about 1,500 arrests.
In a statement, officials blamed Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for so-called sanctuary city policies.
ICE claimed that “Sanctuary policies like those pushed by Mayor Wu not only attract and harbor criminals but also place these public safety threats above the interests of law-abiding American citizens. ICE is arresting sex offenders, pedophiles, murderers, drug dealers, and gang members released by local authorities.”
Governor Maura Healey said the ICE actions are not about public safety.
“We’ve seen construction workers, nannies, landscapers, health care aides – these are the people that are being taken in huge numbers,” Healey said. “It is not the kind of effort Trump said it was about.”
Wu said no Boston police or local resources will be used for civil immigration enforcement, writing: “For months, ICE has refused to provide any information about their activities in Boston and refuses to issue warrants, while we hear reports of ICE agents taking parents as they are dropping their kids off at school. That does not make our community safer.”
In a statement, Wu said: “For months, the Trump DOJ, DHS, and ICE have been spreading blatant lies and threatening to “bring hell” to cities like Boston who refuse to bow down to their authoritarian agenda, so this unconstitutional attack is not a surprise. This country was born facing down bullies, with Bostonians leading the way. Today Boston is the safest major city in the country because we have worked to build trust in the community, so that everyone feels safe seeking help or reporting a crime. We will not be bullied or intimidated into abandoning the efforts that make Boston a safe home for everyone.”
Mayor Wu said ICE has refused to provide information about who’s being detained, why, and where they are being taken. She says local law enforcement will not be involved in that process.
“The Boston Trust Act, State Law, all state very clearly that that is not the domain and that is not legally possible for the federal government to overreach and force local police departments to take on the work that is in the federal authority,” Wu said.
Heavily armed ICE agents moved in on a Lynn apartment building Monday. People who live in the building say the man who was arrested was American, and he was taken to an ICE facility.
“When they finally came out, they had him under arrest with handcuffs on the back and he was coming out with pajamas, his glasses and shirt,” recalled Miosotis Cintron.
White House officials told CNN the operation will happen at the same time as he push in Chicago, signaling efforts to crack down on sanctuary cities.
Massachusetts congressman Jake Auchincloss said any federal operation should be done in conjunction with local authorities.
“Bay Staters don’t want criminals walking on our streets,” he said. “Rapists, thieves, murderers absolutely should be incarcerated, deported. They also don’t want thuggery on their streets. Government agents masked, pulling up in unmarked vans, tackling people, surrounding people. And so, if this administration wants to support law enforcement in Massachusetts and in Boston, they had better work with the governor and with the mayor.”
Advocates for the immigrant community say they they hear from people every day who are terrified.
“They’re terrified to go out, they’re terrified of being arrested, of being separated from their children, and children are terrified of being separated from their parents right now,” said Elizabeth Sweet, the Executive Directior of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA).
Sweet says MIRA has resources available for anyone who needs them, including legal services.
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