At campaign event, Wu impugns federal agents as Lyons demands she ‘stop putting my people in danger’

BOSTON — Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons has had enough.

Lyons, a native of South Boston and a graduate of Boston College High School in Dorchester, on Thursday called out Mayor Michelle Wu for her “ridiculous rhetoric and inflammatory comments” that he said are putting federal agents and officers in danger.

Federal immigration agents and officers are met with danger every day, said Lyons, whose agency on Wednesday announced the arrest of a foreign fugitive and suspected member of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organization in Philadelphia who is wanted overseas.

“My officers and agents walk into danger so other people can sleep safely at night. So kids can make it to school safely and play outside,” Lyons said in a video message posted on X on Thursday morning.

“So while it’s easy to be an armchair quarterback and make up talking points that get activists riled up, the bottom line is my officers and agents are out there protecting the same people who are threatening their safety,” Lyons said.

Federal agents and officers have been “doxed” on social media, and sometimes wear masks while on duty and enforcing immigration laws and making arrests after officers, and their families, have received death threats, Lyons said this week.

Assaults against ICE officers are up 400 percent since this time period last year, Lyons said.

His comments came one day after Wu volleyed additional criticism against federal law enforcement while speaking about masks worn by some federal officers who are enforcing immigration laws.

Wu, while discussing the masks worn by some law enforcement on Wednesday with Boston 25, brought up the prominent New England neo-Nazi group Nationalist Social Club, also known as NSC-131.

In a recent interview with WBUR, Wu likened ICE immigration officers to “secret police.”

Wu, who is seeking re-election, repeated that phrase at a campaign event on Thursday morning.

“We’ve seen it in our neighborhoods, on our streets, and what other definition of secret police is there when people are getting snatched off the street by masked individuals,” Wu said, “not being told where they’re going, disappeared until somehow someone finds some information, not given justification for why they are being taken.”

Lyons doubled down on Thursday, calling the mayor’s comments “ridiculous rhetoric and inflammatory comments.”

“Law enforcement is common sense. Politicians need to stop putting my people in danger. I’m not asking them to stop. I’m demanding that they stop,” Lyons said in his video message on Thursday.

“Here’s what I have to say to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and anyone else stirring up the outrage about what ICE does: These are real people with real families you’re hurting with your ridiculous rhetoric and inflammatory comments and it’s time to remember that,” Lyons said.

He spoke one day after U.S. Attorney Leah Foley also addressed Wu’s remarks about federal agents and officers in a video message on social media Wednesday morning.

Foley condemned Wu’s comments, calling them “reckless and inflammatory statements.” The U.S. Attorney again cited the increasing threats faced by federal law enforcement in doing their job.

“Referring to federal agents as ‘secret police’ is offensive,” Foley said Wednesday. “There are no secret police.”

“ICE agents along with other federal law enforcement partners are making immigration arrests. That is no secret,” Foley said. “They are arresting individuals who are here illegally, which is a violation of federal law. Every enforcement action is conducted within the bounds of the Constitution and our laws, with oversight, legal justification and accountability.”

In response, during a campaign event on Thursday morning, Wu said, “The US Attorney is attacking me for saying what Bostonians see with our own eyes. We’ve seen the videos,” Wu said.

Video obtained by Boston 25 News shows an ICE arrest in Lynn Wednesday morning that the city’s mayor called “forceful.”

On May 8, Worcester Police body camera footage captured a crowd of people surrounding and assaulting federal law enforcement officers trying to detain Brazilian national Rosane Ferreira de Oliveira, 40, who is in the country illegally and faces previous criminal assault charges, federal authorities said.

Wu said Boston Police officers do not wear masks routinely. She also claimed that federal agents and officers are undermining the work of Boston Police.

The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association declined comment on the matter on Thursday.

“Our Boston police officers are in very, very difficult situations every day,” Wu said. “They make arrests. They are in challenging encounters as is part of the job that they take on 24 hours a day. They do not wear masks routinely. They do not hide anything.”

On Monday, federal officials announced the arrest of nearly 1,500 people in Massachusetts, in the month of May alone, who are living in the U.S. illegally.

More than half of those arrests, federal authorities said, were of people with ‘significant’ criminal backgrounds -- convicted murderers sought by Interpol, child rapists, drug traffickers.

“And so we hear these numbers that are thrown out there 1,500 or 300, left and right, to prove or to suggest that some campaign goal of mass deportation is being fulfilled and that it’s supposedly about some criminal behavior,” Wu said during her campaign event on Thursday.

“And I want to acknowledge that there is partnership that happens between Boston police and federal agencies every day on criminal behavior,” Wu said.

“When someone commits harm in our community, when there is a criminal warrant, we enforce it, no matter who the agency is,” Wu said. “If it’s out-of-state, if it’s out of the country, you will be held accountable for committing harm in our community regardless of immigration status, just as you’re provided services and support and access regardless of immigration status.”

She added: “We are safe, and we are the safest major city in the country because we are safe for everyone.”

Boston 25 has reached out to Lyons and Foley for comment on Wu’s remarks on Thursday.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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