The Department of Homeland Security accused Boston Mayor Michelle Wu of “hunting down” private property owners this week, escalating a fight over the mayor’s push to keep U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from leasing parking space in the city.
The dispute traces back to a “sources sought” notice ICE posted last month seeking “surge parking” in 14 cities nationwide, including 249 contiguous spaces in Boston. The notice came after Ms. Wu had already banned ICE vehicles from staging operations on city-owned lots.
In response, Ms. Wu, a frequent critic of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies, sent an open letter to Boston-area garage and lot owners urging them to “reject ICE staging facilities.” She warned that if the agency secured the space, it would amount to “an unprovoked and unwarranted escalation” and told the property owners the city had filed a Freedom of Information Act request for “any local responses to ICE.”
DHS fired back on X, calling the mayor’s actions “unhinged” and asserting she has “NO authority to block us from using private property.” The agency went on to accuse the left-wing mayor of “threatening” property owners “because she’d rather intimidate law-abiding Bostonians than get criminal illegal aliens off the street.”
DHS responded again after Ms. Wu’s FOIA filing, branding her a “pro-criminal illegal alien politician” and arguing the request itself proved she lacked authority to stop ICE from using private property. The agency said private citizens should be free to make their property available to federal law enforcement “free of threats, intimidation and coercion” and accused Ms. Wu of having compared masked ICE agents to a neo-Nazi group — a characterization she previously declined to endorse when reporters asked her about the remarks.
Ms. Wu’s letter followed an emergency resolution the Boston City Council adopted earlier this month directing the city to “explore all avenues to oppose” the proposed ICE leases. According to Boston.com, the mayor has also pointed to fatal ICE shootings in Maine and Texas this summer as justification for the pushback, and has framed the fight as one where “the strongest defense is solidarity” among cities, businesses and residents.
Besides Boston, ICE’s notice indicated the agency is also seeking substantial parking capacity in Denver, Seattle, Philadelphia, Dallas, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and several other metropolitan areas.
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