The Democratic mayors of New York, Denver, Boston, and Chicago fended off a barrage of questions from House Republicans who accused them of protecting criminals and jeopardizing President Donald Trump’s plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.
During a contentious House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday, Chairman James Comer (R-KY) praised New York City Mayor Eric Adams but was far more confrontational with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. Comer called Adams an “outstanding mayor” and commended him for working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
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“You have — of the witnesses today of the major cities, you have publicly stated that you were willing to work with ICE on detaining the most criminal illegals. And I want to thank you for that,” Comer said before asking Adams whether New York is a sanctuary city.
“Based on our classification, yes,” Adams responded to the question, which was the only one posed by Comer.
The Kentucky Republican used his opening statement to depict the four cities as dangerous and full of crime and called them “a public safety nightmare.”
“We cannot let pro-criminal alien policies of obstructionist sanctuary cities continue to endanger American communities and the safety of federal immigration enforcement officers,” Comer said.
The Kentucky Republican then turned to the mayors of Boston and Chicago to ask them about whether they would turn over immigrants facing charges to federal immigration authorities. Both mayors said their cities would follow the law, but neither said they would proactively turn over an immigrant to ICE if they were detained on state charges.
“The point that we’ve got to iron out today is that we have to have cooperation,” Comer said. “It is federal law to turn over those illegal criminals to ICE, and we have heard reports, and many of you have said publicly that you were going to obstruct that.”
In his opening statement, Adams argued that New York City can still be a sanctuary for immigrants while also obeying federal laws.
“I’m here today to testify on how New York City can continue to reduce crime, even as a sanctuary city. To be clear, a sanctuary city classification does not mean our city will ever be a safe haven for filing criminals,” Adams said. “It also does not give New York City the authority to violate federal immigration laws.”
Adams’s testimony came as the Department of Justice has called for the mayor’s criminal bribery and fraud case to be dismissed. The DOJ said in a filing that the case would impede Adams’s ability to carry out his duties as mayor and risked an “unacceptable” threat to safety and “related federal immigration initiatives.” Adams has since appeared in a joint interview on Fox News with Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, to announce he would allow ICE to reopen an office on Rikers Island for the first time in more than a decade.
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Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the ranking member of the panel, slammed his GOP colleagues for shielding Trump from accountability and the rule of law and made a veiled dig at Adams.
“President Trump’s Department of Justice has tried to force the conditional dismissal of very serious charges against one of our witnesses here today in exchange for that witness’s total and complete submission to the radical immigration agenda being propounded by the administration,” Connolly said during his opening remarks. “The DOJ has done so over the objections of a Republican acting U.S. attorney who President Trump appointed.”
This is a developing story.