Mass. US Attorney goes after AG Campbell over comments on ICE

U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley took aim at Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell in a social media post Tuesday night, the latest clash between the top federal prosecutor in the state and Democratic leaders.
Foley’s criticism of Campbell is a response to the attorney general’s comments on GBH on Tuesday, when she explained there was little she could do to hold Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, accountable, a reality she deemed disappointing. Campbell noted it would be the responsibility of the U.S. attorney to hold federal agents accountable.
“They’re not doing that,” Campbell said during a conversation about whether any action could be taken to prevent ICE agents from wearing masks. “The authority that we have to hold them accountable in their actions is also very limited, and we’re seeing that.”
“Our tools, at times, will hit a wall, including because of federal laws that are not on our side,” Campbell added.
On X, Foley repeated her claim that ICE agents wear masks because of doxing and threats to their families.
“The Attorney General is apparently less mindful of these documented significant threats than she is of murky, unverified accounts of retribution,” Foley said, adding she hoped Campbell understood it was the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause that barred her from “arresting federal agents for doing their job.”
“As I have said time and again, my office stands ready to investigate violations of federal law, no matter the perpetrators, and if the Attorney General wishes to discuss such perceived violations productively, we are always available to do so,” Foley said. “To date, however, she has failed to identify any such violations.”
It is not the first time Foley has gone after officials in Massachusetts on the subject of ICE.
At an event in June, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu referred to the agents as “secret police who are wearing masks.”
In a recorded statement released in response, Foley called Wu’s comments “reckless and inflammatory.”
“Referring to federal agents as ‘secret police’ is offensive,” Foley said in the video posted to X. “There are no secret police. ICE agents, along with other federal law enforcement partners, are making immigration arrests. That is no secret. They are arresting individuals who are here illegally, which is a violation of federal law.”
Foley, a longtime prosecutor in the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office, was appointed to the top job in January by the Trump administration.
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