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House Republicans are calling on sanctuary city mayors to testify next month about the policy’s impact on public safety and the refusal to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
U.S. Rep. James Comer, R-Tenn., chair of the GOP-controlled House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said he was launching an investigation into sanctuary cities across the United States to determine whether they have complied with federal immigration enforcement laws.
In a letter, he asked Michelle Wu, Brandon Johnson, Mike Johnston and Eric Adams, the mayors of Boston, Chicago, Denver and New York City, respectively, to provide documents and information related to the sanctuary policies of each city.
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They were each asked to testify at a public hearing on the matter on Feb. 11. Fox News Digital has reached out to each mayor.
“On his first day in office, President Donald Trump took decisive actions to restore the rule of law,” Comer wrote on X. “It is now imperative that our immigration laws are enforced across the country and that criminal aliens are swiftly removed from our communities.”
The letters said 12 states and hundreds of cities and counties across the country have sanctuary policies. However, Comer said the four cities singled out “stand out in their abject failure to comply with federal law.”
Sanctuary cities limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Supporters argue that enforcement of immigration is the job of the federal government.
Opponents say sanctuary policies harbor criminals, as well as those in the country illegally, and put the public, including illegal immigrants, at risk.
Adams has spoken out against criminal illegal immigrants, who he said put New Yorkers at risk. In addition, he has said he is willing to work with Trump Border Czar Tom Homan.
“Mayor Adams has made clear that New York City is committed to working with our federal partners to fix our broken immigration system and focus on the small number of people who are entering our localities and committing violent crimes,” the mayor’s office told Fox News Digital. “We will review the letter and respond accordingly.”
Meanwhile, Wu, the Boston Mayor, has said her city won’t cooperate with Trump’s mass deportation program, despite the region seeing a number of illegal immigrants with criminal charges released back onto the streets.
“Elections have consequences, and the federal government is responsible for a certain set of actions, and cities, no individual city, can reverse or override some parts of that,” she told WCVB-TV in November. “But what we can do is make sure that we are doing our part to protect our residents in every possible way, that we are not cooperating with those efforts that actually threaten the safety of everyone by causing widespread fear and having large scale economic impact.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the City of Boston said: “We are proud that Boston is the safest major city in the United States. We have received the letter and are reviewing it.”
Chicago Mayor Johnson has doubled down on his support of the city’s sanctuary policies.
“I find it unconscionable that this administration would attempt to create not just division but fear within our public schools,” Johnson said, referring to potential federal raids.
He has directed city departments to “stand firm and uphold the local ordinance” in compliance with the Illinois Trust Act, which prohibits local law enforcement from assisting federal immigration enforcement efforts.
Denver Mayor Mike Johnston has also supported sanctuary policies despite the presence of members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in Denver and the suburb of Aurora.
On Sunday, federal agents arrested 50 members of the gang in Colorado and seized drugs, weapons, and cash, authorities said.
In his first week after returning to the White House, Trump has rescinded multiple directives and has targeted illegal immigrants with criminal records in a series of raids.
Raids by agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been reported in Colorado, New York City, Buffalo, N.Y., Boston, California, and Minnesota, with hundreds of illegal immigrants being detained.
In addition, deportation flights have also begun.
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