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ICE Vows to 'Flood the Zone' in Boston After Mayor's Stand Against Trump Administration

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  August 22, 2025 10:30 AM

Boston is about to be ‘flooded’ with federal immigration officials after Mayor Michelle Wu took a defiant tone with the Trump administration about its sanctuary policies.

“We’re definitely going to, as you’ve heard the saying, flood the zone, especially in sanctuary jurisdictions,” Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons said Wednesday on “The Howie Carr Show.” 

“Boston and Massachusetts decided to say that they wanted to stay [a] sanctuary,” he continued. “Sanctuary does not mean safer streets. It means more criminal aliens out and about the neighborhood. But 100 percent, you will see a larger ICE presence.”

On Tuesday, Wu pushed back on a letter Attorney General Pamela Bondi sent to dozens of cities and a handful of states across the country urging them to comply with federal law or face consequences. 

“On behalf of the people of Boston, and in solidarity with the cities and communities targeted by this federal administration for our refusal to bow down to unconstitutional threats and unlawful coercion, we affirm our support for each other and for our democracy,” Wu wrote to Bondi. “Boston will never back down from being a beacon of freedom, and a home for everyone.”

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Fox News's Bill Melugin pointed out who Wu was defending. 

“We did Operation Patriot March, which yielded over 1,000 arrests, and now you’re going to see more ICE agents come to Boston to make sure that we take these public threats out that she wants to let go back in the communities,” Lyons said. “We’re going to keep making America safe.”