‘Flood the zone’: ICE fires back at Boston Mayor Wu’s sanctuary defiance

President Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement is pushing back against Boston Democrat Mayor Michelle Wu’s refusal to end the city’s sanctuary policies.

During a rally held earlier this week, Wu stated that the city received a letter from the U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi “threatening to prosecute city officials and withhold federal funds unless we cooperate with carrying out mass deportations.”

Bondi sent similar letters to Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington.

‘Our elected officials may not appreciate the important work ICE does, but their residents sure do.’

Wu accused the Trump administration of causing “fear and harm” within the community.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons fired back at Wu’s refusal to cooperate with immigration officials.

RELATED: Boston mayor vows to continue resisting Trump’s deportation efforts

Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

During an interview on “The Howie Carr Show” on Wednesday, Lyons declared, “We’re definitely going to … flood the zone, especially in sanctuary jurisdictions.”

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

Lyons stated that there are many Boston law enforcement officers and jurisdictions outside the city that want to work with ICE.

“That’s what I think local leaders don’t understand is they need to talk to the men and women on the ground, because … there are so many of these criminal aliens that keep getting released to go out and commit more crimes that the local law enforcement have to deal with. We can take that violent criminal alien instantly out of the neighborhood,” Lyons added.

RELATED: House GOP calls ‘sanctuary’ governors to face oversight grilling on public safety

Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

“Massachusetts residents are safer when ICE is keeping our country safe,” Paul Craney with the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance told Blaze News. “If ICE Director Tom Lyons wants to flood Boston, it just means Boston will become safer. Anyone who has eyes has seen for themselves the crime in Boston, and as a state and city, we should be doing everything we can to welcome their assistance. Our elected officials may not appreciate the important work ICE does, but their residents sure do.”

ICE Boston announced Thursday that it recently completed a four-day operation in Connecticut, declaring the state “a sanctuary no more.”

Acting Field Office Director Patricia Hyde contended that sanctuary policies endanger the communities they aim to protect.

Hyde told “America’s Newsroom” on Wednesday, “Unlike Mayor Wu, I was born and raised in Massachusetts. I grew up in Boston.” Wu was born and raised in Chicago. She first moved to Massachusetts to attend Harvard

“I know what a safe Boston looks like, and this isn’t it,” Hyde remarked.

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