Republicans grilled mayors on Wednesday over their sanctuary city policies. And even New York’s Eric Adams, who has taken some steps to appease President Donald Trump on immigration, held firm.
“To be clear, the sanctuary city classification does not mean a city will ever be a safe haven for violent criminals,” he said at a hearing of the House Oversight Committee. “I cannot have a city where parents are afraid to send their children to school.”
Adams joined Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston at a hearing about policies that limit how local police or local resources can facilitate deportations and turn immigrants over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As Republicans on the committee railed about crime, the Democratic mayors hit back — accusing the Trump administration of lying to the public about and detracting from their efforts to keep their cities safe.
“Shame on him for lying about my city,” Wu said of Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, who recently said, “I’m coming to Boston. I’m bringing hell with me.”
Trending
Some Democrats have been open to Trump’s aggressive agenda cracking down on migration, both legal and illegal, supporting controversial legislation like the Laken Riley Act. The tide, however, has slowly turned.
It is critical to the safety of Americans that cities have the ability to decide what is in the best interest of their people,” Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton said. “Mayors and local enforcement know their cities best.”
Republicans sought to connect sanctuary cities and undocumented immigrants with crime, despite research that indicates they are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans. The mayors argued that sanctuary policies actually increase public safety by promoting trust in police.
“We are the safest major city in the country because our gun laws are the strongest in the nation, because our officers have built relationships over decades, and because all of our residents can trust that when they call 911, in the event of an emergency or to report a crime, they will come,” Wu said.
Chairman James Comer hammered the mayors over their answers to whether criminals would be turned over to ICE.
“Would you turn that criminal over to ICE?” he repeatedly asked. “That’s the problem. That’s one of the topics of this conversation.”
Most cities have exceptions to their sanctuary policies that don’t shield migrants who commit violent crimes from being held for ICE. The mayors present emphasized that if ICE has a criminal warrant, local police cooperate — but the system is more complicated than simply turning people over.
ICE issues requests called detainers when they would like to pick up a migrant. If that person was convicted of a crime, they serve their sentence first. Then, after that person has worked their way through the justice system, it’s illegal to keep them held in custody with no other criminal charges. If local police are cooperating, they inform ICE of the date that person is supposed to be released. But ICE can’t always make it in time with limited resources.
Democrats didn’t express universal support for the mayors. Rep. Stephen Lynch expressed some skepticism toward sanctuary ordinances, saying it sometimes “does appear” that sanctuary laws interfere with “the congressional grant of authority to operate in that area.”
“We’re going to spend $1.5 billion on providing services and housing and everything to people who are in our state unlawfully,” he said of Massachusetts. “[Trump] got into office on that issue. So the costs to democracy are massive. It is now threatening our democracy because we have mishandled this issue.”
—
Casey Murray is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
Author
