ICE official puts politicians on blast, demanding they 'stop putting my people in danger'
Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons demands that politicians "stop putting my people in danger."
In a video, Lyons called out Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., suggesting that they are fomenting "outrage" about ICE's work, accusing them of "hurting" people with "ridiculous rhetoric and inflammatory comments."
During remarks last week, Wu said, "People are terrified for their lives, and for their neighbors, folks getting snatched off the street by secret police, who are wearing masks … who can offer no justification for why certain people are being taken and then … detained."
U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Leah Foley explained the mask issue in a video shared online this week.
"Federal agents in marked jackets and vests are masking their faces because people like Mayor Wu have created false narratives about their mission. Federal agents and their children are being threatened, doxxed and assaulted — that it why they must hide their faces," Foley declared.
Wu has even earned a direct rebuke from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) X account.
"I don't know of any police department that routinely wears masks," Wu said on Wednesday. "NSC-131 routinely wears masks." When someone asked Wu whether she was comparing ICE to a neo-Nazi group, the mayor replied, "What I said is that Boston police, and no police department that I know of at the local level routinely wears masks."
DHS slammed Wu, declaring in a Thursday post, "Mayor Wu comparing ICE agents to neo-Nazis is SICKENING. When our heroic law enforcement officers conduct operations, they clearly identify themselves as law enforcement while wearing masks to protect themselves from being targeted by known and suspected gang members, murders, and rapists. Attacks and demonization of our brave law enforcement is WRONG. ICE officers are now facing a 413% increase in assaults."
Jeffries declared on Tuesday that all ICE agents who perpetrate "aggressive overreach" and attempt to conceal "their identities from the American people, will be unsuccessful in doing that." They will all be identified "no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes," he asserted, saying that is what the law requires.
The House minority leader made the comments when responding to a question about identifying authorities connected with two separate incidents related to Democratic lawmakers.
Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., said in a post on X last month that "ICE shoved" her.
However, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba later declared in a post that her office had "charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement."
Separately, DHS agents "forcefully entered" an office and handcuffed one of Rep. Jerry Nadler's, D-N.Y., staffers, the lawmaker said in a statement.
DHS addressed the incident, stating in a post on X that "Federal Protective Service (FPS) officers responded to information that protesters were present inside U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler's District Office in Manhattan, New York."
DHS said that "officers were granted entry and encountered four individuals. Officers identified themselves and explained their intent to conduct a security check, however, one individual became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office. The officers then detained the individual in the hallway for the purpose of completing the security check. All were released without further incident."
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Wu and Jeffries to request comments from the politicians on Thursday but did not receive responses by the time of publication.
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