Updated June 10, 2025 at 5:06 PM EDT
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signed an executive order Tuesday seeking greater transparency from federal immigration officials.
At a press conference broadly addressing issues the city is facing under the Trump administration, Wu said Boston will regularly submit Freedom of Information Act requests to find out who U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is detaining and on what grounds.
She also shared a message for President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan, who promised in February he would be “bringing hell” to Boston. Homan has been seemingly making good on that pledge with a series of immigration actions in the spring.
“My advice to ICE and to Tom Homan is to take a time out. Reassess what you are doing and how you are doing it,” she said. “A little friendly advice from the safest major city in the country. We know how to keep people safe.”
ICE did not respond to a request for comment about Wu’s executive order on Tuesday.
Federal immigration officials last week touted arresting nearly 1,500 people in Massachusetts, alleging that 790 of them had records of “significant criminality.” ICE posted about a dozen allegations and photos online, but did not disclose allegations against the hundreds of other people arrested.
In some Massachusetts immigrant communities, ICE raids and detainments have created a culture of fear and uncertainty.
“We don’t wanna be waiting two weeks, three weeks to find out where our fathers, mothers, members of our community, hard work[ing] people [are] taken to,” Lenita Reason, executive director of the Brazilian Worker Center, said during the Tuesday press conference. “We need to at least know where they are to try to figure out how we can support them.”
Wu again said Tuesday the agency has used “secret police tactics” across the country during immigration enforcement. The mayor took repeated criticism last week from federal officials and the White House for referring to masked immigration agents as “secret police.”
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons previously ran the agency’s Boston office. He and the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts defended federal agents for wearing masks last week, saying agents and their families had been doxxed on social media.
On Tuesday, the mayor said that in Boston, police officers wear badges and identify themselves. She also noted that there are guidelines for police actions.
“They do not routinely wear masks. We are clear about the reasons for potential arrests,” she said. “We expect the same standards from law enforcement operating in the city no matter what agency they are from.”
The mayor’s executive order notes that the city plans to submit FOIA requests related to policies that govern federal officers’ use of face masks and display of badges or identification.
Wu charged the Trump administration with making “coordinated attacks” on the city and its institutions, as well as withholding funding for education, science and research.
The mayor said Tuesday a federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s effort to withhold $48 million in funding for city of Boston programs providing housing, health care and job training for low-income people and veterans. Trump’s attempt to freeze the funding was paused temporarily in early May.
She said the Trump administration had sought to withhold the funds “unless we complied with their ideological wish list.”
“But this federal administration fundamentally does not understand Boston,” she said, thanking constituents for their courage. “Thank you for refusing to bullied into giving up.”
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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