The administration of President Donald Trump is launching what it is referring to as "Operation Patriot." 

NBC Boston was one of the first outlets to report on the operation, which is being led by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.

The operation, as we will see, is aimed at detaining illegal immigrants currently residing in the state of Massachusetts.

🚨 JUST IN: Operation PATRIOT 2.0 is being carried out in Massachusetts and Boston after their Democrat mayor and other officials have let dangerous criminal aliens into the community.

Round them UP. And an epic operation name. pic.twitter.com/nMnANR2jjZ

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 8, 2025

The details

According to NBC Boston, the operation is already underway.

The outlet reports:

A federal official says that ICE has begun a new operation in Massachusetts targeting criminal immigrants in the country without documentation. ICE, as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is known, is conducting a follow-up to a surge in May it's called Operation Patriot 2.0, a senior spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which ICE is a part of, told NBC10 Boston on Saturday. The May operation, Operation Patriot, resulted in nearly 1,500 people being arrested, officials said at the time.

The Trump operation is hopeful for even greater success this time around.

This effort is designed to combat so-called sanctuary cities, those that claim to provide safe harbor from the federal government to illegal immigrants residing in the United States.

Boston is such a city.

"Public safety threats"

The Department of Homeland Security has put out a statement explaining why it is conducting this operation.

A spokesperson said:

Sanctuary policies like those pushed by Mayor Wu not only attract and harbor criminals but also place these public safety threats above the interests of law-abiding American citizens. ICE is arresting sex offenders, pedophiles, murderers, drug dealers, and gang members released by local authorities.

It turns out that local law enforcement has already been working with the Trump administration behind Wu's back.

Breitbart News reports:

Police officers in Boston have reportedly been defying Wu by secretly giving immigration officials information to help them arrest criminal illegals, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in August, according to Breitbart News.

Lyons, in August, revealed, "We have so many men and women on the Boston Police Department and other jurisdictions that are so pro-ICE, that want to work with us and that are actually helping us behind the scenes."