Mayors of sanctuary cities facing pressure from Washington visited Capitol Hill on Wednesday to defend themselves and insisted that their refusal to fully cooperate with federal immigration agents and officers made their communities better.
The mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York said they must deal with whoever arrives inside their jurisdictions regardless of their legal status. That means delivering education, emergency medical care and safe communities.
The mayors said asking about immigration status or cooperating with federal deportation authorities would ruin their ability to deliver those services.
“This federal administration is making hardworking, taxpaying, God-fearing residents afraid to live their lives,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. “A city that’s scared is not a city that’s safe. A land ruled by fear is not a land that’s free.”
“We don’t think it’s relevant to know someone’s status when they come into a public library to check out a book or if they come to the hospital for services or come to register their child for school,” said Denver Mayor Mike Johnston. “It just scares people away.”
He said the number of parishioners at the fastest-growing church in his city plunged from 700 to five after the administration relaxed standards on where federal authorities could make deportation arrests.
Republicans accused the mayors of shielding violent criminals.
“You all have blood on your hands,” said Rep. Nancy Mace, South Carolina Republican.
The cities have become focal points in the immigration debate as Democrats, who control all four jurisdictions, complain about President Trump’s more aggressive approach to enforcement.
He has accused the sanctuaries of shielding dangerous criminals by refusing to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the government’s deportation agency.
The mayors said they don’t think their policies violate federal law, which bars state and local governments from restricting information sharing on immigration matters with the federal government.
“We comply with all laws, local, state and federal,” said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Florida Republican, said that was a misreading of the law. She said she would refer the mayors to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution.
“I do not think you guys are bad people, but I think you are ideologically misled,” she said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s busing scheme sent tens of thousands of illegal immigrants caught and released by the Biden administration to sanctuary cities.
The mayors complained that they had no notice and had to scramble.
Rep. Byron Donalds, Florida Republican, wondered why the mayors didn’t ask President Biden to shut down the border to stop the flow.
“Only when it showed up on your doorstep did you get upset,” he said.
New York Mayor Eric Adams, who complained about the border numbers under Mr. Biden, has made overtures to the Trump administration to work on immigration enforcement.
He said his city had spent $6.9 billion to accommodate the migrants from 2022 through 2024. That money, he said, could have been spent helping schoolchildren whose education suffered or improving the city’s mental health system.
Mr. Johnston said Denver spent $79 million on the migrants. Mayor Brandon Johnson said Chicago spent 1% of his budget, but he couldn’t say the amount.
Ms. Wu said her city doesn’t have a figure because “we don’t ask about immigration status.”
When Mr. Donalds criticized her reply, she said, “The city of Boston is sick of having people outside of Boston telling us what to do.”
The mayors repeatedly conflated legal and illegal immigrants. They celebrated the accomplishments of legal immigrants as proof that the country needs illegals.
Ms. Wu said 1 in 5 players on the Boston Red Sox recent championship teams were immigrants, as were all but one of the Boston University faculty members who have held a Nobel Prize.
Rep. Michael Cloud, Texas Republican, called that a “linguistic shell game.”
“No one’s asking you to go and round up criminal aliens. We are asking you to take people that are already in your custody and hand them over to legal federal law enforcement,” he said.
Some mayors were wary about using “sanctuary” to describe their cities.
“Boston is a safe city,” Ms. Wu insisted.
Mr. Johnston also refused the sanctuary characterization. He said his city had complied with 1,226 deportation “detainer” requests by notifying ICE when someone in local custody was about to be released. The mayor said ICE could be on hand to pick them up.
“What we do not do is hold someone beyond their release date,” he said.
Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, noted that Denver last week gave ICE an hour’s notice before releasing a Venezuelan with a lengthy criminal record. Denver sheriff’s deputies refused to turn him over inside the jail, so the ICE officers had to wait on the street. The illegal immigrant assaulted the officers, and ICE had to use Tasers to subdue him.
“That is how stupid sanctuary policies are,” Mr. Jordan said.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Michigan Democrat, suggested that the blame lies with the ICE officers.
“Six of them couldn’t take this guy,” she said. “Doesn’t make any sense to me.”
Mr. Johnston said a city ordinance requires detainees to be released onto the streets. He said he had seen the video of the encounter and would “make adjustments” if needed.
Mr. Johnson said Chicago refuses the notification. He said his city will cooperate only if federal authorities have a criminal warrant. That’s not an option in regular immigration enforcement; it’s a civil matter.
The mayors said they had driven down crime rates even as their immigration numbers rose.
