CHELSEA — Boston Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley wants federal immigration agents prosecuted "for their crimes" and Immigration and Customs Enforcement itself abolished, she wrote in a Facebook post this week tied to a community listening session at La Colaborativa, a Chelsea nonprofit.

"I have introduced multiple bills that would allow us to prosecute agents for their crimes & for the pain, suffering, & trauma they inflict in our communities," Pressley, MA-07, wrote. "My position remains unchanged: ICE is an agency beyond reform, and it must be abolished."

In the same post, Pressley described federal immigration officers as "glorified bullies," called the Trump administration an "authoritarian regime," labeled ICE itself a "lawless agency," and accused Republicans in Congress of giving the agency a "$70 BILLION dollar" check to "continue invading & terrorizing our communities."

Pressley's listening session was held at La Colaborativa, flanked by signs reading "Not one unlawful deportation" and "Hands off our immigrant neighbors."

Pressley said she heard from "families who lost their breadwinners" and "a Chelsea father who was abducted weeks after meeting his newborn daughter & spent months in detention before being unlawfully deported." The legal status of the "breadwinners" Pressley referenced is not specified in her post.

Pressley's framing of ICE as a "lawless agency" full of "glorified bullies" runs into a reality her post does not address: federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the agency that arrests illegal immigrants who have committed crimes inside the United States.

Recent MA federal enforcement actions reported by ICE include the arrest of a Honduran national who is an alleged member of MS-13 with a prior order of removal; the arrest of a Salvadoran national identified as an 18th Street Gang member; and the arrest of a Cuban national with 85 prior arraignments before federal authorities took custody. Each was in Massachusetts because of state-level sanctuary policies that decline to honor ICE detainers from local jails.

Pressley calls deportation in such cases "unlawful." Federal immigration law calls it the law.

The "$70 billion" Pressley cites refers to the multi-year border-enforcement funding package passed by the Republican-controlled Congress — not a single annual ICE appropriation. The funding includes detention capacity, border infrastructure, and enforcement personnel.

The "abolish ICE" platform Pressley endorses places her among a small group of House Democrats — including the so-called "Squad" — who have publicly called for elimination of the agency that arrests, detains, and removes illegal immigrants charged with crimes. Polling on the position has consistently shown it underwater nationally, including among Democratic voters.

Within hours of her post, the top-engagement replies on Pressley's own official Facebook page were sharply at odds with her framing.

The top reply, with 152 likes, read: "This was really funny until I realized you're being serious and now it's hilarious."

Another, with 106 likes: "If you do the dance you pay the fiddler! Not a hard concept!"

A third, with 70 likes: "Ice, ice baby!! Keep up the great work!"

Other top-engagement replies on her own page included "Deport them all" (60 likes), "Follow the rules and this won't happen, simple" (27 likes), "You heard testimonies from non citizens" (50 likes), and "Perhaps they should have made an effort to become US Citizens?" (17 likes).

Pressley did not specify in her post which "multiple bills" she has introduced to prosecute federal agents.