{"id":2410113,"date":"2025-03-05T14:37:01","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T19:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-gop-grills-sanctuary-city-mayors-over-immigration\/"},"modified":"2025-03-05T14:39:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-05T19:39:01","slug":"house-gop-grills-sanctuary-city-mayors-over-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/house-gop-grills-sanctuary-city-mayors-over-immigration\/","title":{"rendered":"House GOP grills sanctuary city mayors over immigration"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhouse-gop-grills-sanctuary-city-mayors-over-immigration%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2410113&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a recent House Oversight Committee \u2063hearing, mayors of four major sanctuary cities\u2014New York, Boston, Chicago, and Denver\u2014were questioned by republican representatives regarding \u200dtheir policies on illegal immigration and\u200b cooperation \u200bwith federal \u2064authorities. Chairman \u2064James Comer (R-KY) was notably critical, particularly towards Boston Mayor\u2062 Michelle Wu \u200dand Chicago Mayor Brandon \u2063Johnson, \u2062while \u2062expressing praise for New York city\u2062 Mayor eric Adams \u200cfor his cooperative stance with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).<\/p>\n<p>The hearing highlighted tensions surrounding \u200bthe mayors&#8217; sanctuary city designations, which limit local law enforcement&#8217;s collaboration with federal\u200d immigration enforcement. Despite\u2062 accusations from Republicans that their policies \u200bendanger\u200d public\u200c safety and defy the Trump administration\u2019s \u200dimmigration agenda,the mayors defended their actions as\u200b necessary for maintaining community safety and \u2063encouraging\u2063 undocumented immigrants to report\u200d crimes \u2062without fear \u200dof \u200cdeportation.<\/p>\n<p>Adams asserted that\u200d New York\u200d can \u2062be both\u2063 a sanctuary city and compliant with federal law,emphasizing that sanctuary status does not provide cover for\u200b criminal activity. He faced intense scrutiny over claims of\u2062 a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-biden-personally-requested-meeting-with-hunters-chinese-business-partner-text-messages-suggest\/\" title=\"Text messages suggest that Joe Biden personally requested a meeting with Hunter&#039;s Chinese business partner.\">potential quid pro quo<\/a> \u2063with the trump administration\u2064 regarding federal corruption charges against him. Simultaneously occurring, other Democrats on the panel criticized the Trump \u200dadministration&#8217;s treatment of the mayors and pointed to broader issues like the\u2063 economy that\u2062 they argue require\u2063 more \u2062attention \u2064than immigration policy.The hearing reflected a deep partisan divide over immigration \u2063enforcement\u200d and local governance, with ongoing debates about safety,\u2064 legality, and\u200c cooperation between city\u2062 and \u2063federal authorities.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">&lsquo;Public safety nightmare&rsquo;: House GOP grills sanctuary city mayors over illegal immigration<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2028963\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>The mayors of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/new-york\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"New York\">New York<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/denver\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Denver\">Denver<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/boston\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Boston\">Boston<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/chicago\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Chicago\">Chicago<\/a> fended off a barrage of questions from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/republican\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Republicans\">Republicans<\/a> who accused them of protecting criminals and jeopardizing the president&rsquo;s plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants.<\/p>\n<p>In a contentious House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday, Chairman James Comer (R-KY) singled out New York City Mayor Eric Adams with praise, but was far more confrontational with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. Comer called Adams an &ldquo;outstanding mayor&rdquo; and commended him for working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3337886\/al-green-censure-outburst-trump-joint-address-to-congress\/\">Al Green headed for censure after cane-wielding outburst at Trump address<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3337836\/house-democrat-sylvester-turner-dies-at-70\/\">House Democrat Sylvester Turner dies at 70<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3337734\/house-oversight-committee-grills-eric-adams-michelle-wu\/\">WATCH LIVE: House Oversight Committee grills sanctuary city mayors<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;You have &ndash; 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,&rdquo; Comer said before asking Adams whether New York is a sanctuary city.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Based on our classification, yes,&rdquo; Adams responded to the question, which was the only one posed by Comer.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Each mayor leads a &ldquo;sanctuary city&rdquo; a term for policies that limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The mayors continued to make the case that their <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">cities follow federal immigration laws<\/a> and that their policies ensure undocumented immigrants can report crimes and utilize city services without fear of deportation. <\/p>\n<p>Republicans accused the mayors of defying President Donald Trump&rsquo;s immigration agenda and releasing dangerous criminals onto the streets. Comer used his opening statement to depict the four cities as dangerous and full of crime, calling them &ldquo;a public safety nightmare.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We cannot let pro-criminal alien policies of obstructionist sanctuary cities continue to endanger American communities and the safety of federal immigration enforcement officers,&rdquo; Comer said.<\/p>\n<p>The Kentucky Republican then turned to the mayors of Boston and Chicago to ask them 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 had been detained on state charges.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The point that we&rsquo;ve got to iron out today is that we have to have cooperation,&rdquo; Comer said. &ldquo;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.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In his opening statement, Adams argued that New York City can still be a sanctuary for immigrants while also obeying federal laws.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m here today to testify on how New York City can continue to reduce crime, even as a sanctuary city,&rdquo; Adams said. &ldquo;To be clear, a sanctuary city classification does not mean our city will ever be a safe haven for filing criminals. It also does not give New York City the authority to violate federal immigration laws.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Adams&rsquo;s testimony comes as the Department of Justice <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3330779\/eric-adams-fights-corruption-charges-quid-pro-quo-leak\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">has called <\/a>for the mayor&rsquo;s criminal bribery and fraud case to be dismissed. The DOJ said in a filing that the case would impede Adams&rsquo;s ability to carry out his duties as mayor and brought an &ldquo;unacceptable&rdquo; threat to safety and &ldquo;related federal immigration initiatives.&rdquo; Adams has since appeared in a joint interview <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Bpt9iMpcuO8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">on Fox News<\/a> with Tom Homan, Trump&rsquo;s border czar, to announce he would allow ICE to reopen an office at Rikers Island for the first time in more than a decade.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple Democrats focused their questioning on Adams and accusations that he engaged in a quid pro quo with the Trump administration to have his federal corruption charges dropped in exchange for his cooperation on immigration.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s no deal, no quid pro quo, and I did nothing wrong,&rdquo; Adams said.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) accused Adams of &ldquo;selling out New Yorkers&rdquo; and called on him to resign.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I personally agree with the majority of New Yorkers and think Mr. Mayor that you should resign, you should do the right thing, step down and resign today,&rdquo; Garcia said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Watching some of the sanctuary city hearing while on a flight. One Democrat congressman accuses Mayor Adams of &ldquo;selling out New Yorkers&rdquo; while making a deal with Tom Homan. Simply disgusting. Mayor Adams is trying to protect New Yorkers from violent illegal aliens. He is trying&hellip;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Thomas D. Homan (@RealTomHoman) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealTomHoman\/status\/1897337226922745941?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 5, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>    <\/p>\n<p>Homan defended Adams on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RealTomHoman\/status\/1897337226922745941\">social media, <\/a>blasting Garcia&rsquo;s &ldquo;simply disgusting&rdquo; allegations that Adams was &ldquo;selling out New Yorkers&rdquo; to save himself from prosecution.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Mayor Adams is trying to protect New Yorkers from violent illegal aliens,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;By working with ICE, lives will be saved. FACT!&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/house\/3337734\/house-oversight-committee-grills-eric-adams-michelle-wu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"WATCH LIVE: HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE GRILLS SANCTUARY CITY MAYORS\">WATCH LIVE: HOUSE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE GRILLS SANCTUARY CITY MAYORS<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), the ranking member of the panel, slammed the treatment Trump&rsquo;s Justice Department gave Adams.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;President Trump&rsquo;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&rsquo;s total and complete submission to the radical immigration agenda being propounded by the administration,&rdquo; Connolly said during his opening remarks. &ldquo;The DOJ has done so over the objections of a Republican acting US attorney who President Trump appointed.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Connolly went on to mention recent comments from Homan in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), in which Homan slammed Boston&rsquo;s police commissioner, saying there are at least nine accused &ldquo;child rapists&rdquo; in jail who local authorities won&rsquo;t turn over to ICE. Homan went on to promise to &ldquo;bring hell&rdquo; to Boston.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Let&rsquo;s talk about Tom Homan. Shame on him for lying about my city, for having the nerve to insult our police commissioner, who has overseen the safest Boston has ever been in anyone&rsquo;s lifetime,&rdquo; Wu said in response. &ldquo;Bring him here under oath, and let&rsquo;s ask him some questions.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) got into a heated exchange with Johnston about a Denver ordinance preventing city employees from talking to immigration authorities. She asked Johnston to join her in demanding that Colorado repeal those laws.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I do not believe the detainer law needs to be changed,&rdquo; Johnston said.<\/p>\n<p>Boebert asked Johnston if employees would get fired for talking with &ldquo;anyone from the EPA&rdquo; or &ldquo;Health and Human Services,&rdquo; and then asserted that they would &ldquo;only be fired for talking to federal law enforcement officers.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;No, that&rsquo;s incorrect, Congresswoman &ndash; our city employees do in fact communicate with ICE, we coordinate multiple things with ICE, for instance if there is a violent criminal warrant in the city,&rdquo; Johnston said before being cut off by Boebert, who rejected his argument.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There are issues happening before warrants are issued and local law enforcement officers are unable to coordinate,&rdquo; Boebert responded.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats on the panel pointed out that the Trump administration and Congress have not addressed voters&rsquo; top issue: the economy. Some of the mayors found opportunities to put Republican members on defense. Wu pushed back against suggestions that undocumented immigrants pose the biggest threat to Boston.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you want to make us safer, pass gun reform, stop cutting Medicaid, stop cutting funds for veterans,&rdquo; Wu said in response to questioning from Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ).<\/p>\n<p>In response to criticism of mass deportation from Wu, Comer offered a surprising comment, saying &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think anyone&rsquo;s calling for mass deportation.&rdquo; <\/p>\n<p>Trump himself promised the &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-reveals-plan-for-largest-domestic-deportation-operation-in-american-history\/\" title=\"Trump reveals plan for \u2018largest domestic ... operation in American history\u2019\">largest domestic deportation operation<\/a> in American history&rdquo; during his joint address to Congress on Tuesday night and renewed his ask for more funding to carry out his immigration agenda.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2028963\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2028963\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House GOP questions sanctuary city mayors on immigration issues<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2657,"featured_media":2410114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Sanctuary-cities-hearing-scaled-1024x683.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[34558,32455,3813,51582,36985],"class_list":["post-2410113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-congressional-hearing","tag-house-gop","tag-immigration","tag-mayors-2","tag-sanctuary-cities"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Sanctuary-cities-hearing-scaled-1024x683.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2410113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2657"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2410113"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2410113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2410117,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2410113\/revisions\/2410117"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2410114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2410113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2410113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2410113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}