Mayor Wu defends calling ICE ‘secret police’ after Mass. US attorney’s criticism
Published: Jun. 04, 2025, 9:18 p.m.
By Susannah Sudborough | SSudborough@masslive.com
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu defended her characterization of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as “secret police” on Wednesday following scathing criticism by Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah Foley, who called Wu’s comment a “false narrative.”
Federal immigration officers have not been “sharing exactly who was arrested and why,” Wu told reporters when asked about Foley’s criticism outside an unrelated event at Boston City Hall. “The U.S. attorney is attacking me for saying what Bostonians see with their own eyes.”
The exchange of criticism stems from comments Wu made about ICE during the WBUR Festival this past weekend.
“Every aspect of what’s happening at the federal level is causing harm in our local communities,” the mayor said during an interview. “People are terrified for their lives and for their neighbors, folks getting snatched off the street by secret police who are wearing masks, who can offer no justification for why certain people are being taken and then detained.”
In a video shared on social media Wednesday morning, Foley called the “secret police” comment offensive. She also pushed back against the idea that people are being “snatched off the street” and said Wu’s statements were “reckless and inflammatory.”
https://www.masslive.com/news/2025/06/mayor-wu-defends-calling-ice-secret-police-after-mass-us-attorneys-criticism.html
