House Oversight Chairman James Comer announced probes Monday into four sanctuary cities, calling on them to come before Congress and defend themselves.

The Kentucky Republican is targeting Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York, saying they “stand out in their abject failure to comply with federal law.”

“Citizens of all four cities have suffered due to sanctuary policies,” he wrote in letters laying out the investigation.

He invited the mayors to appear for a hearing Feb. 11 to talk about their policies.

While sanctuary policies vary, they have in common a goal of resisting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. Some policies decline to hold illegal immigrant deportation targets for pickup but will still notify Homeland Security of an impending release. Other jurisdictions refuse all cooperation and communication.

President Trump has ordered his administration to find ways to deny sanctuary cities access to federal money. His Justice Department also has ordered prosecutors to pursue criminal charges in cases where sanctuary cities defy federal immigration efforts.

Mr. Comer said his investigation is intended to see if Congress needs to step in and write new legislation.

“It is imperative that federal immigration law is enforced and that criminal aliens are swiftly removed from our communities,” the lawmaker said.

Sanctuary cities defend their policies as protecting immigration communities. They argue that if they cooperate with the feds, immigrants — here legally and illegally — will not want to cooperate with local police by reporting other crimes or serving as witnesses.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.