Mayor Wu this week stepped up her administration’s efforts to thwart a large-scale federal immigration deployment in Boston. In a letter made public on Tuesday afternoon, the mayor urged the owners of private parking garages and lots in Boston to spurn requests from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to lease spaces in their facilities as part of an anticipated expansion of ICE operations in the city.
“Today, I ask you to join us: Reject any proposition by ICE to facilitate an attack on the people of Boston,” Wu wrote in the letter, which noted that ICE had issued a public bid on July 21 seeking what the federal agency described as “surge parking” in 14 cities, including Boston.
IIt’s not yet clear whether ICE has reached agreements with any private operators or even if any facilities responded to the bid, which reports say specify the need for 249 leased spaces. Wu said Tuesday that the city had also filed a federal Freedom of Information Act request seeking information about any local responses to ICE’s search. The implication is that the city will seek to make public any such deals that have been cut, thereby shaming local profiteers who might throw in with the ICE-capades.
The appeal is in line with other steps by state and city leaders to blunt federal overreach in our Commonwealth. Earlier this month, the City Council adopted an emergency resolution (by a 12-0 vote) opposing the potential ICE parking leases.
Gov. Maura Healey has also weighed in. On Aug. 5, the governor said that the state “absolutely cannot allow ICE to have 250 parking spots in downtown Boston.” The governor had previously issued her own executive orders that prevent federal immigration agents from using state-controlled parking lots and other state facilities to stage operations. Wu has done the same in Boston via executive order.
In her letter, Wu warns that accommodating ICE requests could enable a larger immigration enforcement deployment and disrupt public safety and economic activity. In July, ICE said new federal funding would help it increase enforcement capacity, particularly in jurisdictions that limit cooperation with the agency. Boston, it seems, fits that profile.
Wu’s request to private garage owners expands on an executive order she signed in February that bars federal immigration agents from using city-owned buildings, parking lots, and parks to stage immigration operations. The order also directs city agencies to emphasize de-escalation during federal operations and calls for crimes allegedly committed in Boston to be investigated regardless of whether or not the alleged perpetrator is a federal official.
Wu has been among the most vocal leaders of a national coalition of municipal leaders challenging expanded federal operations through the courts, including an earlier legal filing concerning ICE abuses in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
“In the face of escalating attacks on cities across the country, we have repeatedly seen that the strongest defense is solidarity,” Wu wrote on Tuesday. “When government, business, and community leaders stand together, we protect public safety and advance the economic vitality that makes Boston thrive.”
Some might get queasy when government leaders use their bully pulpit to urge private interests to rally to a shared cause and to defy federal actors. But there’s clear echoes of Boston’s storied past in her rhetoric and resolve. From the original patriots who rebelled against British tyrannical rule to abolitionist Bostonians who repelled federally-deputized slave catchers, Wu’s earnest appeal is well-rooted in a city that loves a good resistance and cares about the welfare of its people.
–Bill Forry
