House Republicans held a hearing on Wednesday to attack cities led by Democratic mayors for not adopting President Donald Trump’s hard line on immigration. But the mayors fought back against the GOP narrative during the contentious session of the House Oversight Committee.
The loaded title of the event was “A Hearing with Sanctuary City Mayors,” reflecting the built-in hostility from Chairman James Comer, who has spent the last few years using the committee to pursue anti-Joe Biden conspiracies that fizzled out.
Republicans have often argued that cities like Boston and Denver are run as “sanctuary cities” with lax immigration policies that have led to crime (even though crime is down in recent years), though it’s important to note that there is no strict definition of a sanctuary city.
Tom Homan, who Donald Trump appointed as his “border czar” recently took a break from complaining about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to announce he planned to bring “hell” to Boston in retaliation for their immigration stance.
“Shame on him for lying about my city, for having the nerve to insult our police commissioner, who has overseen the safest Boston’s been in anyone’s lifetime,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu told the committee.
“Bring him here under oath, and let’s ask him some questions. I’m here to make sure that the city of Boston is safe. Others may want to bring hell, we are here to bring peace to cities everywhere.”
Wu’s opening remarks highlighted Boston’s diversity, noting that 28% of the iconic city’s 700,000 residents are immigrants and that students in Boston Public Schools hail from more than 139 different countries. Wu explained that there were 24 homicides recorded in Boston in 2024, the lowest number since 1957.
In another exchange, Rep. Jim Jordan (a key Trump ally) complained that Denver Mayor Mike Johnston was purportedly being soft on crime and providing sanctuary to gang members.
As he yelled at the mayor, Johnston patiently explained that the city was following its ordinances and that he has reached out to the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency to improve coordination. Jordan continued to rant about the topic, insisting that Denver is operating as a “sanctuary city.”
But the bullying began before the Oversight meeting as Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida informed Wu, Johnston, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson that she was going to “criminally refer them to the Department of Justice for upholding sanctuary city policies,” The Hill reported.
“You all speak about a broken immigration system and yet here you guys are aiding and abetting in that entire process.”
Adams was the only mayor praised for his work with ICE. Then again, controversy has swirled around the mayor as Trump’s DOJ moved to dismiss corruption charges against him, apparently in exchange for his cooperation on Trump’s hard-line anti-immigration agenda.
For years Republicans have sought to demonize migrants, and especially under the leadership of Trump, the GOP has gone all-in on bigoted anti-immigration ideas and rhetoric. Instead of exploring solutions on the contentious topic, the Oversight hearing sought to attack Democrats for not going along with the right’s invective.
But the mayors stood their ground despite the attempted ambush.
No comments:
Post a Comment