The comments came in a hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, where Republicans accused the mayors of putting their cities in danger and undermining President Donald Trump's deportation efforts.
Republicans have repeatedly highlighted crimes committed by illegals with Rep. James Comer opening the hearings by saying the policies “only create sanctuary for criminals.”
But the Democratic mayors — Michelle Wu of Boston, Brandon Johnson of Chicago, Mike Johnson of Denver and Eric Adams of New York — pushed back hard, even as they seemed to carefully avoid using the term “sanctuary.”
Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan grilled Johnston for a Denver arrest that he said required ICE agents to apprehend a man recently released from local custody, and mocked Johnston’s insistence that his city was safe.
“That’s a lie because it was not safer for the ICE agents who are part of your community. No way was it safer,” he said.
Trump administration officials have also argued that if communities work with them on immigration enforcement, “collateral arrests" — when ICE detains people other than those targeted — are less likely.
“Sanctuary cities want to keep locking us out of jails," Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told reporters recently. “They force us into the neighborhood to find the bad guys. When we find the bad guy, many times they’re with others.”
