The U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts aggressively called out Boston Mayor Michelle Wu Wednesday in a video posted to X for what she calls “reckless and inflammatory” comments regarding federal immigration authorities who’ve been detaining immigrants across Massachusetts in recent weeks.

“Referring to federal agents as, quote, 'secret police’ is offensive,” said Leah Foley, who was appointed to lead the office in January by President Donald Trump. “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.

”Every enforcement action is conducted within the bounds of the [U.S.] Constitution and our laws with oversight, legal justification and accountability,“ Foley added. ”To claim otherwise is a gross misrepresentation and a disservice to the public.

In an interview at the WBUR Festival last week, Wu said that right now in Boston, “People are terrified for their lives and for their neighbors. Folks [are] getting snatched off the street by secret police who are wearing masks, who can offer no justification for why certain people are being taken and then detained.”

Foley accused Wu and others who’ve questioned the Trump administration’s approach of putting federal personnel conducting these arrests at risk through their criticism.

“Federal agents in marked jackets and vests are masking their faces because people like Mayor Wu have created false narratives about their mission,” Foley said. “Federal agents and their children are being threatened, doxxed, and assaulted. That is why they must hide their faces.”

She took issue with Wu’s statement that federal law enforcement officers are “snatching people off the streets,” calling it both “false” and “offensive to the men and women who risk their lives every day to uphold the rule of law.”

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently said that, along with its federal partners, it had arrested nearly 1,500 unauthorized immigrants during a May surge, more than half of whom “had significant criminal convictions or charges.”

The legal justification for some other arrests and detentions has been called into question, however, including the arrest and 45-day detention of Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk, whose student visa was revoked. A federal judge ultimately ordered Öztürk released as the case against her proceeds.

The Trump administration claims that, by coauthoring an op-ed in a Tufts student newspaper calling for the university to divest from Israel, Öztürk “engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans.” Öztürk was arrested on the street in Somerville prior to her detention by individuals whose identity seemed unclear at the time.

As debate has raged over the Trump administration’s approach to immigration enforcement, Wu has become something of a heroine for opponents of Trump’s approach. In March, she testified before the House’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform along with several other Democratic mayors and forcefully condemned Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, who had previously vowed that he would come to Boston and bring “hell” with him.

Later Wednesday, Wu defended her initial comments to reporters at Boston City Hall, noting that Boston police officers don’t wear masks as they perform their duties “because [they] have nothing to hide.” She added that federal agents’ use of masks is currently undermining Boston residents’ trust of law enforcement generally, and “making it harder for Boston police to do their jobs effectively.”

“It’s also property damage, smashing car windows not necessarily with justification ... not sharing exactly who was arrested and why,” Wu added. “The U.S. Attorney is attacking me for saying what Bostonians see with their own eyes. We know this is happening.

”We’re in a very charged environment,“ she continued. ”Across the board, we see a lot of rhetoric and mudslinging and personalized attacks. It it is still important to tell the truth.“