When Boston’s Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu defiantly brushed off Attorney General Pam Bondi’s order to dismantle the city’s sanctuary policies, the response was swift, sharp—and federal. Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons didn’t mince words. On Wednesday, he promised to “flood the zone,” sending a clear message to Boston and every other sanctuary jurisdiction: the era of looking the other way is over.
This confrontation is more than a clash of personalities—it's a showdown over the rule of law, national security, and the authority of federal immigration enforcement. Bondi’s letter to Wu was blunt and uncompromising, accusing sanctuary cities like Boston of obstructing justice, sheltering criminals, and undermining public safety. “This ends now,” she wrote—giving Wu a deadline to comply or face sweeping federal consequences, including possible funding cuts and law enforcement intervention.
Wu’s response? A press conference full of political theater. She claimed Boston follows the law and labeled the crackdown as a distraction from what she called the Trump administration’s failures. “We will not back away from our community,” she said, insisting that sanctuary policies somehow make Boston the “safest city in the country.”
But that claim doesn’t hold up against the reality playing out in city streets—where known criminals are released back into communities under the protection of local policies that refuse to cooperate with ICE detainers.
Enter Todd Lyons, who pulled no punches during his appearance on The Howie Carr Show. ICE, he said, is ramping up enforcement operations in Boston because the city’s leaders refuse to do what’s necessary. “We’re going to keep making Boston safe,” Lyons said. “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.”
This isn’t hypothetical. Lyons pointed to “Operation Patriot March,” which resulted in over 1,000 arrests of criminal aliens. He made it clear: sanctuary doesn’t mean safer—it means shielding dangerous offenders from deportation. “Sanctuary does not mean safer streets. It means more criminal aliens out and about the neighborhood,” he said.
More troubling is the internal conflict within local law enforcement. Despite Boston’s Trust Act, which prohibits police from cooperating with ICE, Lyons says many officers are quietly helping federal agents behind the scenes. Why? Because they see what’s happening firsthand—violent offenders being released, victims left vulnerable, and their own communities paying the price.
Lyons warned that federal agents now have to not only track down their original targets, but also clean up the mess caused by local policies that allow criminal aliens to walk free. “We can take that violent criminal alien instantly out of the neighborhood,” he said, contrasting ICE’s capability with local politicians’ unwillingness to act.
The message from Washington is unambiguous: sanctuary cities that shield criminal aliens will not be allowed to undermine federal immigration law. ICE is coming, and they’re not coming quietly.