Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons responds to Globe reporting on aftermath of immigration crackdown

After publication of ‘Seven Days Under the Shadow of ICE,’ the head of U.S. immigration enforcement responds.

Todd Lyons, acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announces his agency arrested or detained nearly 1,500 immigrants in Massachusetts over the month of May during a news conference at the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse in Boston, Monday, June 2, 2025.Leah Willingham/Associated Press

In May, ICE and other federal agents descended on Massachusetts, arresting more than 1,400 people, more than any other month on record. Recently, a team of Globe reporters, photographers, and videographers spent a week canvassing immigrant communities to understand the effect of that surge.

During the course of the reporting, the Boston regional office of ICE did not engage with Globe requests to participate. However, on July 4, after reading the published article, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons provided a statement to the Globe. It follows, in full:

“I am not only extremely proud of the work we do at ICE, I count myself blessed to represent the finest federal officers and agents tasked with one of the toughest jobs in all of law enforcement. Our officers risk their lives every day protecting New England communities from criminal alien offenders,” said Acting ICE Director Lyons.

“We are prioritizing the safety of our public by arresting and removing some of the most dangerous and disturbing people in the world. Whether or not illegal aliens have committed violent crimes, all the people we remove have broken U.S. immigration laws. All attempted to illegally take refuge in the United States.”

“The previous administration allowed millions of illegal aliens to enter this country with pitifully little vetting; many crossed our border without being encountered. President Trump has taken the initiative to reverse this trend and make our neighborhoods safer for U.S. citizens and legal immigrants who came here legally, the right way.”

Responding to a part of the story that describes the work of Lucy Pineda, whose network of 2,500 volunteers patrols neighborhoods to warn of ICE activity, Lyons said:

“Activists like Lucy Pineda are often hailed as heroes by publications with obvious political agendas, but if they were to take an honest look at what her and her followers are doing, they are enabling people to break the law — and more often than they are comfortable admitting — they are allowing violent criminals to continue to victimize the migrant communities.”