U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has launched a new surge of immigration enforcement action in Massachusetts, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed Sunday.
The department did not specify how long there would be increased ICE activity around the state.
In May, ICE undertook a monthlong immigration crackdown. Federal immigration officials said they arrested nearly 1,500 people during that time, which they called “Operation Patriot.” The new surge is being called “Patriot 2.0.”
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, nowhere is a safe haven for criminal illegal aliens,” a department spokesperson said in a statement. “If you come to our country illegally and break our laws, we will hunt you down, arrest you, deport you, and you will never return.”
While the statement said the enforcement crackdown will encompass all of Massachusetts, they specifically called out Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, claiming so-called “sanctuary policies” in the city “attract and harbor criminals.”
In a response, Wu pointed to the city’s Trust Act, which prohibits Boston police from working with ICE on civil immigration detainers. Under the ordinance, Boston police do cooperate with federal authorities on criminal cases.
Boston’s ordinance coincides with a state Supreme Judicial Court ruling barring law enforcement in Massachusetts from detaining people based solely on a request from federal immigration authorities.
“We expect that federal law enforcement will abide by the constitution and laws of this City, Commonwealth, and country, and we are prepared to take legal action at any evidence to the contrary,” Wu said in a statement.
The U.S. Department of Justice sued the city last week, alleging the Trust Act violates federal law.
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