Wu issues order to protect Bostonians from ICE agents on city property

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu released an executive order Thursday containing a slate of actions aimed at protecting Massachusetts residents and protesters from abuses by federal immigration agents, particularly on city property.

Flanked by dozens of state lawmakers, mayors and city managers from across Greater Boston, union organizers, law enforcement officers and nonprofit leaders in a city building on Court Street, Wu said Boston will ban ICE agents from staging operations or civil immigration arrests in city parking lots, garages, open spaces, parks and buildings, effective immediately.

“We will not allow the birthplace of American democracy to be knocked off our path by those who have turned their backs on our founding principles,” Wu said. “ We are mayors and municipal leaders and community members from across greater Boston, united in our refusal to let anyone fracture what we fought for.”

Wu's order to “Protect Bostonians From Unconstitutional and Violent Federal Operations” directs police to de-escalate conflicts with peaceful protesters if an ICE surge comes to the city, like those seen in Minnesota and Maine.

Asked by reporters whether this could invite clashes between local law enforcement and ICE, Wu said no.

“ Please do not mistake that anyone here is looking to set up any sort of conflict,” she said. “The order specifically has language in there emphasizing that this is about ensuring peace, about deescalating situations when there might be pressure to escalate from other parties, and that this is not about anything except for following the law.”

Leaders from Cambridge, Somerville and Newton said they plan to pass similar orders.

Under Wu's order, Boston will publicly release video footage of any “violence or property damage by federal officials” taken by police body cameras and surveillance cameras.

The mayor's order also stated that, consistent with the existing "Trust Act," civil immigration enforcement is not permitted without a judicial warrant in Boston Public Schools, libraries and numerous other city spaces.

“ We have seen our police headquarters’ parking lot, our high school sports stadium and even our public cemetery used for these purposes against the will of our people,” Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson said. “The federal government needs to hear that the intentional infliction of fear and chaos on our communities must stop.”

The Trump administration has sued the city of Boston and its leaders over the Trust Act’s policy to limit cooperation with federal agents on civil immigration enforcement. The city has asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit.

Wu’s order includes additional direction to rely on lawsuits as needed.

“If we experience the kind of unlawful and unconstitutional invasion we've all seen in other parts of the country, then Boston will see the administration in court — again,” Wu said.

Were an ICE surge to happen in Boston, and there were allegations of criminal conduct by federal agents, Boston police should investigate independently, according to the order. ICE already swept through the Boston area with at least two large waves of arrests last year.

“ As a resident of Boston and the top law enforcement official in Suffolk County, I promise that we will do our job as prosecutors, regardless of who stands accused,” Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said at the event.

Wu's order comes in the wake of killings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minneapolis, and what Wu called "recklessly deployed" agents in Minnesota and cities in Maine.

It follows a similar move last week by Gov. Maura Healey, who issued an executive order banning ICE from pursuing civil detainers on state property. She also filed a bill with the Legislature to curtail immigration agents' presence in spaces from courthouses to schools and churches.

On Wednesday, Worcester’s City Manager, Eric. D. Batista, announced his city would  ensure “no municipal resources will be used toward federal civil immigration enforcement,” as well.

This story is developing; it will be updated.