Photo: Kyle Bray/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Boston College Police and Archdiocesan officials have confirmed that an ICE vehicle was spotted outside St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill on Saturday afternoon.
The Trump administration ramped up immigration enforcement in Boston on Saturday, calling the crackdown Operation Patriot 2.0.
Gov. Maura Healey told MSNBC on Tuesday that the vehicle was parked in front of the church to “intimidate” churchgoers who were attending a Spanish language service.
"Why the hell are they there? They're there to intimidate, right? They're there to sow fear, they're there to scare people in the same way the Trump administration is about scaring corporations and universities and law firms,” Healey said on the show.
Healey said the vehicle was parked there Sunday, when St. Ignatius Church holds a Spanish mass. In a statement to WBZ, BC spokesperson Jack Dunn said BC Police confirmed the vehicle was in fact spotted Saturday.
The Trump administration’s Border Czar Tom Homan told reporters outside the White House on Tuesday that Healey’s claim of the ICE vehicle outside the church was a “bold-faced lie.”
“Shame on Governor Healey and [Boston] Mayor Wu,” he said. “They should be “thanking President Trump, Thanking ICE for making their community safer.”
Still, some students at BC said they feel unsettled by the ICE presence so close to campus.
“Personally I think that they’re not welcome here,” said one student.
Saryn, a sophomore at BC, said she worries about the safety of Spanish-speaking students.
“I think that there should be better security measures,” she said.
Rinchu, a BC student who immigrated from China, said he’s not concerned about his own safety, but is worried about his friends who are currently in China.
“They might have trouble coming back,” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security said the recent immigration crackdown in Boston was to arrest “some of the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens” in the state.
Healey refuted that during her MSNBC interview.
“It’s gone too far. It’s not about public safety,” Healey said. “I’m all for going after and targeting the bad guys … That’s not what this is about.”
WBZ’s Jim MacKay (@JimMacKayOnAir) reports.