Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons declared this week that ICE will significantly increase its presence in Boston following Mayor Michelle Wu’s refusal to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, according to The Hill.
Appearing on “The Howie Carr Show” on Wednesday, Lyons issued a warning that Boston is about to see a lot more federal agents—and a lot less tolerance for its sanctuary city stance.
“We’re definitely going to... flood the zone,” Lyons told Carr, referring specifically to sanctuary jurisdictions like Boston. It wasn’t just political flair; it was a response to a letter from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had recently informed 32 jurisdictions that federal consequences were on the table for local noncompliance.
Those consequences could include legal action or revoked funding—tools the federal government has used in the past to encourage policy alignment. Bondi’s office gave city leaders until Tuesday to respond.
Mayor Wu’s reply? A defiant wave of the hand. “Boston will not bow down to unconstitutional threats or unlawful coercion,” she said in a statement rejecting the federal demand.
Taking it a step further, Wu accused the administration of “attacking our cities to hide” what she called policy failures. But rhetoric aside, the Mayor’s stance upholds a local law that’s been in place since 2014—the Boston Trust Act.
That act prohibits Boston law enforcement from cooperating with ICE in civil immigration matters. In practice, it means ICE often can't pick up unauthorized migrants released by local authorities, even those flagged by the feds for deportation.
This policy is sold as progress, but in Lyons’s view, it works out quite the opposite. “Sanctuary does not mean safer streets,” he said. “It means more criminal aliens out and about the neighborhood.”
To back up his claims, Lyons pointed to the previous ICE effort dubbed “Operation Patriot March.” That nationwide campaign resulted in over 1,000 arrests, a statistic ICE clearly believes underscores the risks of local noncompliance.
Now, Boston is next up on the radar. Lyons made it clear that the city can expect a noticeably higher concentration of agents in the coming days and weeks. “You will see a larger ICE presence,” he said.
He also stressed that these increased actions aim to address what he calls “public threats”—people the city is releasing back into the community despite federal warnings.
The friction between local sanctuary policies and federal immigration law is nothing new, but the stakes have clearly escalated.
On one side, cities like Boston frame their policies as humane resistance to overreach. On the other hand, federal agencies insist they’re trying to protect neighborhoods from dangerous individuals slipping through the cracks.
Lyons’ decision is not just about Boston—it’s an unmistakable signal to other cities on Bondi’s list. If jurisdictions continue avoiding cooperation, ICE might soon “flood the zone” elsewhere.
Whether this ramp-up achieves its intended effect remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: Mayor Wu isn’t backing down, and ICE isn’t walking away quietly, either.