Boston Mayor Michelle Wu formally warns private property owners not to lease parking to ICE

Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald on Aug 18, 2026

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BOSTON — Mayor Michelle Wu contacted garage and lot owners to ask them to reject ICE requests to use their property for “surge parking,” saying it would constitute an “unwarranted escalation” in federal immigration enforcement in Boston.

“On July 21, we received the distressing news that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a public notice seeking ‘Surge Parking’ facilities in 14 cities, including in Boston,” Wu wrote Tuesday in a letter to private parking property owners.

“Were ICE to procure such resources, it would constitute an unprovoked and unwarranted escalation, creating potentially significant risks to public safety and halting economic activity across our entire region,” Wu added in the letter, which was framed by her office as a warning against local cooperation with ICE.

Wu also followed through on her plans to use public records law to identify private property owners who may be interested in leasing out parking spaces to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is seeking 249 contiguous spaces in Boston, per a notice ICE posted this month on a government procurement site.

The City of Boston on Tuesday submitted a Freedom of Information request seeking public records on any local responses to the agency’s posting, which stated that it is conducting market research to identify potential parking spaces “in the vicinity of existing or planned ICE facilities” in cities across the country.

On Sunday, Wu had admitted in a TV interview that she cannot stop private property owners from leasing to ICE, but said her office will file public records requests to learn who is interested in working with the agency, so that the city can contact those entities to inform them of the city’s opposition.

Wu’s letter to parking garage and lot owners on Tuesday does just that.

“ICE’s threats against cities are not new,” Wu wrote. “This federal administration has used ICE surge operations to attack peaceful American cities with deadly and disastrous consequences, from Biddeford, Maine to Houston, Texas.

“In February, following the fatal shootings of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota, I joined together with six other cities across Greater Boston and signed executive orders prohibiting ICE from staging its operations on municipal property and parking lots.

“Today, I ask you to join us: Reject any proposition by ICE to facilitate an attack on the people of Boston. In the face of escalating attacks on cities across the country, we have repeatedly seen that the strongest defense is solidarity,” Wu added.

Wu has tangled with the Trump administration over the city’s sanctuary protections for illegal immigration.

The Boston Trust Act, which the federal government unsuccessfully sued the city and mayor over, prevents city police from cooperating with ICE on civil immigration detainers, but still allows for cooperation in certain criminal matters.

The Herald has reported that the Boston Police Department ignored all 57 immigration detainer requests issued by federal authorities last year.

ICE Boston hit back at Wu’s threat to use public records law to target private property owners seeking to lease parking spaces to the agency on Monday.

ERO Boston, the local arm of immigration enforcement, tweeted that the arrest of an illegal immigrant from Honduras is an example of who they are seeking.

“These are the types of sick criminal aliens that Gov. Healey and Mayor Wu seek to protect,” ICE tweeted. The post added that the suspect’s criminal history includes “pending charges for statutory rape, and prior arrests for rape of a child and indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.”

ICE was referring to Martin Carias Reyes, a criminal illegal immigrant living in Boston.The Department of Homeland Security ramped up its criticism of Wu’s plans in a post on X later on Monday.

“Pro-criminal Mayor Wu knows she has ZERO authority to block ICE from utilizing private property — so now she’s trying to intimidate Bostonians,” DHS wrote. “If PRIVATE citizens want to allow federal law enforcement onto their OWN property, they should be allowed to do so.

“They should not face threats from their radical mayor who shamelessly compared ICE agents to a neo-Nazi group,” DHS added.

Wu’s letter, however, frames her request for private property owners to reject ICE’s parking requests as maintaining safety in the city, while touting the success of summer tourism events like the World Cup that drew international admiration to Boston.

“When government, business and community leaders stand together, we protect public safety and advance the economic vitality that makes Boston thrive,” Wu wrote. “We can ensure that Boston remains a safe, vibrant, and welcoming home for our residents, our workforce, and people from around the world.”

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