Department of Homeland Security Criticizes Boston Mayor's Efforts to Deter Private Landlords from Leasing to ICE

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a strong condemnation of Boston Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu’s initiatives aimed at deterring business owners from leasing properties to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) within the city. DHS characterized these efforts as "unhinged" and likened them to "hunting down" private property owners.

The controversy emerged after Boston implemented a ban preventing ICE vehicles from utilizing city-owned parking lots for operational staging. Subsequently, ICE published a notice indicating its intent to rent hundreds of private parking spaces in the city for a five-year term. In response, Mayor Wu, who has been an vocal opponent of former President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies, distributed an open letter to parking garage and lot owners across Boston. In this letter, she disclosed that the city had filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request "for any local responses to ICE."

DHS Responds to Mayor Wu's Actions

DHS promptly responded to Mayor Wu's stance in a post on X, stating that "these actions by sanctuary Mayor Michelle Wu are unhinged." The agency further elaborated on its criticism, asserting that Mayor Wu "knows she has NO authority to block us from using private property."

She’s 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.

ICE's broader initiative, a "sources sought" notice issued last month, sought "surge parking" in 14 cities nationwide. The notice specifically indicated that ICE required 249 contiguous parking spaces in Boston.

Mayor Wu's Appeal to Property Owners

In her official appeal, Mayor Wu urged garage and lot owners to "reject ICE staging facilities." She argued that "were ICE to procure such resources, it would constitute an unprovoked and unwarranted escalation, creating potentially significant risks to public safety and halting economic activity across our entire region."

Mayor Wu highlighted her collaborative efforts, noting that she had "joined together with six other cities across Greater Boston and signed Executive Orders prohibiting ICE from staging its operations on municipal property and parking lots." She then called upon private property owners, stating, "Today, I ask you to join us: Reject any proposition by ICE to facilitate an attack on the people of Boston."

She also informed the garage and lot owners that the city had submitted a FOIA request on the same day regarding local responses to ICE, promising, "We will keep you updated as we push for a response," and expressing gratitude for their "partnership."

Further Condemnation from DHS

DHS responded to Mayor Wu’s FOIA request with additional criticism, again using X to label her a "pro-criminal illegal alien politician." The agency contended that the FOIA request itself signaled that Mayor Wu "admits she has no authority to block ICE from utilizing private property."

If private citizens want to allow federal law enforcement onto their own property, they should be allowed to do so—free of threats, intimidation and coercion from their radical left-wing mayor who shamelessly compared ICE agents to a neo-Nazi group.

Mayor Wu's FOIA request followed an "emergency resolution" adopted by the Boston City Council earlier in the month. This resolution urged the city to "explore all avenues to oppose" any proposed parking leases for ICE in downtown Boston.

The council's resolution specifically called on the city to "explore available options to prevent the proposed parking leases and expressed its opposition to an increased ICE presence in the city."

Beyond Boston, ICE's notice indicated the agency was seeking a substantial number of parking spaces in the metropolitan areas of Denver, Seattle, Philadelphia, Dallas, Phoenix, and Pittsburgh, among other cities.