Mayors Michelle Wu of Boston, Brandon Johnson of Chicago, Mike Johnson of Denver and Eric Adams of New York will appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
In an indication of what's likely to come, the Republican majority last week released a nearly three-minute-long video previewing the hearing. It opens with images of the Constitution catching fire and burning, revealing photos of the four mayors. It goes on to show arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents of people who'd committed crimes in those cities interspersed with comments from the mayors and news stories showing negative impacts of migration surges.
The video ends with the committee chair, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, threatening to cut the cities' federal funding if they don't cooperate with immigration enforcement.
There’s no strict definition for sanctuary policies or sanctuary cities, but the terms generally describe limited cooperation with ICE. The agency enforces U.S. immigration laws nationwide but often seeks state and local help to hold people who've been arrested or convicted of a crime until federal officers can take custody.
In communities that don't cooperate, ICE agents go into communities to track down people after their release. ICE argues that this is dangerous and strains resources.
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," President Donald Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, told reporters. “They force us into the neighborhood to find the bad guys. When we find the bad guy, many times they’re with others.”
