A public dispute has erupted between Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over the city's efforts to prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from leasing parking spaces.
Wu, a Democrat, wrote a letter on August 18 to parking garage and lot owners in Boston, warning them that ICE was seeking to lease 249 consecutive parking spaces in the city's central business district. She characterized the potential procurement as an "unprovoked and unwarranted escalation" that could pose "significant risks to public safety and halting economic activity." Wu urged property owners to reject any propositions from ICE, stating, "Reject any proposition by ICE to facilitate an attack on the people of Boston."
The DHS responded on X, calling Wu's actions "unhinged" and asserting that she has no authority to block ICE from using private property. A DHS spokesperson told the Daily Mail that Wu was "hunting down private property owners and threatening them for working with ICE because she'd rather intimidate law-abiding Bostonians than get criminal illegal aliens OFF the street."
Wu's office countered that "violent ICE surges make our communities less safe," citing instances where such activity has led to businesses closing and economic disruption. A Boston city spokesperson stated that the mayor's letter urged property owners to reject an escalation that would "endanger our communities, hurt our economy and undermine public safety."
The mayor's letter noted that Boston had previously banned ICE from using municipal property for immigration enforcement in February. Wu's executive order at the time followed two January shootings involving immigration agents and Customs and Border Protection officers. She also indicated that the city had submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for "any local responses to ICE."
According to ICE's Boston office, private citizens should be allowed to allow federal law enforcement onto their property "free of threats, intimidation and coercion from their radical left-wing mayor."
The DHS also provided a list of four individuals arrested by ICE in Massachusetts, alleging they posed public safety threats and were in the country illegally. The list included two men with prior arrests in Boston: Jorge Luis Pena, convicted of statutory rape of a child and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, and Omar Johnson, convicted of armed bank robbery.
Greg Vasil, CEO of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, estimated that each parking spot could cost ICE approximately $30 per day. Over a proposed five-year lease, this could amount to around $13 million.
Maya Healey, the Democratic Governor of Massachusetts, also expressed opposition to ICE securing the parking spots, stating, "We absolutely cannot allow ICE to have 250 parking spots in downtown Boston while they are engaging in these illegal tactics."
Healey's comments came as she signed the PROTECT Act into law, which aims to prohibit ICE from making immigration arrests at courthouses, schools, child care centers, hospitals, and health care facilities in the state without a court order or judicial warrant.